Are roadside tributes dangerous?

Police and local authorities are taking action to curb the number of tributes left at the site of fatal road accidents.

They have said they believe they are a dangerous distraction to other motorists and that grieving relatives put themselves at risk assembling shrines on busy roads.

Merthyr Tydfil have already acted and said tributes will only be allowed where it is deemed safe and appropriate and will be removed after three months.

Do you think people should be free to lay tributes in memory of loves ones killed in crashes? Or do you believe they are a potential danger? Below are a cross-section of your views:

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A few years ago we lost a family member in an accident. Floral tributes were placed at the scene by family and friends but these were replaced soon afterwards by a small memorial plaque. It can't be easily seen but the family know it is there as a mark of respect. It was a conscious decision to make the memorial inconspicious as we would not want to cause another accident by distracting drivers... We prefer to place tributes at his grave and remember his life, rather than focus on his place of death. However, we would be devastated if forced to remove the roadside tribute. If more people placed memorials responsibly surely such measures wouldnt be neccessary?
Carey, Blaenau Gwent

What is happening to this p.c. country? What is wrong with allowing people to grieve for the lose of a loved one.I think floral tributes at accident blackspots act as traffic calming measures and hopefully make drivers think.More should be done to make them permanent reminder.
steve, crewe cheshire

The only thing that is dangerous is the attitudes of those call for the tributes to be banned. We need to be careful how much our society is turning antiseptic. This is another example of those whose intention is to save us from ourselves, in doing so savagely curtailing the rights and freedoms of one portion of society or another, in this case grieving relatives. They are no more distracting than anything else left by the side of the road, and the whole idea of restricting or banning them is monstrous.
Ian Raine, Ashford, KENT

If you believe the spin, these tributes should serve as a warning that a speed camera is up ahead, seeing that it must be an accident blackspot, but this is rarely the case. If anything should be banned it's camera's because they are just as distracting and cause everyone to brake sharply.
Gavin, Cardiff Wales

To an extent these are OK. It is a way for loved ones to say goodbye/remember anniversaries etc. It sure warns you if a stretch of road is potentially dangerous, though I personally prefer the French method of person shaped, black, lifesize cut outs with the number of deaths per accident - that is really thought provoking! However, I object to the few we have around Bristol which have turned into mini shrines where a mock headstones/graves with a picture of the person killed and flowers and toys etc placed there. That is just too much, and denegrates the whole idea of a stretch of road being dangerous - as far as I'm aware this is the only serious accident on that road for many years!
Judy, Bristol, England

This is rediculous, floral tributes are by no means a distraction, in fact - noticing one makes you think long and hard about your actions at the wheel. I travelled back and forwards to Aberystwyth Uni and seeing them made me realise what a dangerous road it was - It is also a large part of the grieving process for others. Let them stay.
Nathan Wallis, Wolverhampton, UK

They should be allowed to remind incompetent drivers that cars in the wrong hands KILL. People should look where they are going when driving NOT the scenery.
Ifor Williams, Caernarfon, Cymru

These roadside tributes are a sober reminder to those who ignore roadsigns and speed limits of the concequences of reckless driving. If people are slowing to look at them, then good as it is quite often the people speeding up behind them and being impatient that cause the accidents to start with.
Paul Humphreys, stanford le Hope, Essex

Yeah those floral tributes are a real distraction... More of a distraction than the countless cones, advertisement billboards, traffic signs, roadworks, workmen and speed cameras put together I suppose. When someone leaves a floral tribute to grieve it's a problem? When someone leaves an advertisement to generate money it's acceptable? Strange times indeed.
Chris, Swansea

Maybe we should follow the example in some areas of France where a life-size black cut-out of a person for each crash victim is put at the side of the road as a warning to others. It is a stark reminder when you pass several of these over a short stretch of road
Jeremy, Ludlow Shropshire

Tragic though fatal accidents are, I can't see why tributes have to be at the cemetery AND the place where a person died. These public displays of grief are, alas, a sign of our times. Grief as a private emotion seems more appropriate and dignified. I would also ban the 'Happy 40th Birthday Fred' kind of displays that festoon roundabouts and bridges, and linger there for weeks as some lazy people who put them there can't be bothered to remove them.
Will, Cardiff

If the councils think we're bad here, they should go to Austria. I remember driving along one Austrian road where there were crosses and flowers virtually on every tree. It was a sobering thought and definitely made us slow down. Tributes are a lot more effective than a big sign showing how many accidents a year - it's just more personal.
Angharad Thomas, Maidenhead, UK

Provided they are not outside somebody's front window, and are not huge, I agree with these memorials, they certainly slow me down and make me think when I see them. The idea of replacing them with a small wooden crosses after a short time is a good one.
Andy Stevens, Glasgow, Scotland

Surely a floral tribute, for example on an area of three metres is less of a distraction than an advertisement board of approximately the size of a house? David, Merthyr Tydfil

I changed my route to work after seeing 2 sets of tributes at a junction I particularly hated. So long as they are placed safely, they benefit road safety as well as helping mourning relatives.
Paul Gill, Leicester UK

I think the song "Flowers By The Roadside" by Oxford band The Family Machine says it all - 'Don't leave me flowers by the roadside. It's not the place I lived. It's just the place I died.'
Lizzie, London

I think this is inconsistent, after all I don't see any proposal to ban commercial (or political) advertising; which is more frequent, bigger, and actively tries to grab our attention. Plus, seeing scores of these 'shrines' (officially encouraged in the Netherlands) has made me think about my driving. They bring home how dangerous the roads actually are.
Owen Carter, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Where are all these accidents and near misses at tribute spots that people speak of? Yet again jumped up local councils and councillors alike just can't help interfering in the affairs of grieving relatives and friends. Yes, a three month limit on a site would be appropriate but then just leave it at that. South Wales Police have a permanent scrolling electronic sign outside their headquarters. How dare they talk about the danger of floral tributes distracting motorists when you need to completely take your eyes of the road to read their information to passing motorists.
N Davies, Bridgend, south Wales

I think that roadside memorials are a very good idea. Plastic wraps on flowers should be banned and after a suitable length of time replaced with a memorial clearly stating the date of the accident and the ages of those who died. That would encourage people to drive more carefully.

As for them being a distraction, we have advertising hoardings all over the place, in France these often have topless women and as far as I know they don't generally cause death and mayhem. I think most fatal crashes are caused by people driving aggressively.
Joseph Peace, Manchester, England

I do not think that road side tributes are more dangerous and distraction than a advertisement board on the side of a road (e.g. A465, near Asda, Merthyr). Surely a floral tribute, for example on an area of three metres is less of a distraction than an advertisement board of approximately the size of a house. So Merthyr Council where is your logic?
David Stevenson, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil

When I am driving and see a floral tribute, it really makes me think about how I am driving. I would go as far to say that they are the best accident prevention measure there is - certainly more hard-hitting than any initiative the police have come up with.
Matthew, Aberystwyth

I have to grudgingly say I have always found roadside tributes inappropriate. In recent years I have seen all to many "semi-permanent" tributes, with stone statues and large crosses being erected in areas that is wholeheartedly out of place.

I agree with letting relatives grieve, but a household very close to mine has recently gone through the double trauma of watching and dealing with an horrific crash outside their front door, and then waking up the next morning to have a huge semi-permanent mausoleum planted on their front verge. Six months later and they still have to wake up and remember that day. I think that that is incredibly unfair.
Kevin Tubb, Aylesbury, Bucks

In some parts of France they have put up black silhouettes with a red heart where a fatal accident has taken place. Seeing these dark outlines is a macabre but highly effective warning as you drive along.
Alex, London

Have these people nothing better to think about? A far bigger distraction is the plethora of road signs, many unnecessary, all demanding a driver's attention and all erected by the very same Councils and Police. They'd do far better to take action against the numerous advertising vans and trailers parked in field alongside our motorways - now those really ARE a distraction to drivers. Leave the grieving friends and relatives in peace!
Colin Harbour, Guildford, Surrey

These shrines are a fairly recent phenomenon in the UK. They are dangerous and unnecessary. The place to leave tributes or pay respects is the cemetery (or crematorium garden). There seems to be a new "need" to be seen to show sympathy in public. It has become more fashionable than a sincere offer of condolence.
JCD, Glasgow, UK

I use the A48 to travel out of Cardiff towards Newport every morning, and during the last couple of weeks I've noticed the traffic is much heavier due to drivers slowing down to look at a very large tribute of flowers, football shirts and flags that has appeared on one of the bridges over the road Anna, Cardiff

I was first on the scene at a dreadful car accident in Powys last year and still make a point of paying my respects to the victims each time I pass that point - I don't need flowers to mark the spot. BUT, many people need to show their love and compassion and flowers are pretty harmless - PROVIDING they take the plastic wrapping off first (litter problem solved then)! They ALSO act as a warning to others - can anyone deny that they do slow down a bit when they see the tributes?? Rather than harass these people, why not enlist their support in campaigns to improve road safety - far more effective than money-grabbing cameras that have lost all public credibility.
David, Cardiff

Every time I pass a tribute it surprises me how many people die on our roads. They are a reminder to all drivers to take care. Why not do as the New Zealanders do: after a few months the tributes are replaced by a small wooden cross.
Duncan , Studley, UK

I think that banning Road side memorials is disgusting why ban them now when they have been going on for many years with no fuss or bother. Just another stupid idea by Merthyr Council.
Andrew James, Merthyr Tydfil Wales

I think that putting flowers and headstone markings at the spot of a road traffic accident in some places is good if away from the road side. In portsmouth a young lad was killed and the council paid for a headstone but put it far away from the road. I have noticed that other countries love doing this but how many more get killed looking at these headstones and road side flowers? Safety comes first not flowers or road side headstones.
Colin Brown, Havant

This happened to my friend. A fatal crash happened basically on her driveway, it was a young driver and there were floral tributes laid. My friends family was ok with that, what they were annoyed about was 20-30 of the desceased friends outside until the early hours of the morning. They realise they had to greive, but at 2 in the morning is a bit excessive i think. As well as this, the police were not very helpful at all, once the cars were cleared and all investigations were done, my friends family had to wash off all the lines the police made themselves, reliving what had happened.
Michelle, Aberystwyth

I think they act as a deterrent. They certainly make me aware of my driving and how lucky I am at that moment.
Bev, Cardiff, Wales

We live near a so-called 'red route', the A15. If everybody left tributes here this road would be one long stretch of mourning signs. I find it inappropriate and distracting and certainly not fulfilling any warning. I understand the need of families to grieve but the road side is not the place to do it. My own mother died in a car accident and the spot where it happened is significant to us even without tributes. The tributes are where they belong: at her grave.
A. Francis, Scampton, Lincs.

Roadside tributes tend to be near hazardous area, for obvious reasons, and I find them very distracting. They actually increases the danger to drivers rather than it by acting as a warning. I think it rather selfish of people to place these tributes and its about time the practice was controlled. Well done Merthyr Tydfil.
John, Marlborough, UK

Such tributes do seem to be getting increasingly common & large. I think Merthyr are right - safe & appropriate tributes, removed after 3 months. And I would define 'appropriate' as a single bunch of flowers.
Jonathan P, Cardiff, Wales

There can be few things more sobering to a driver than the site of a shrine at the roadside. It may well be a distraction, but it is the sort of distraction some drivers need.
Jules Woodell, Swansea, Wales

Graves and memorials are the place for flowers Rob, Swansea

I think it's really offensive that people who have suffered the tragedy of a road death in the family should be the object of interference from the police. It is also a really effective way of alerting the travelling public to the emotional trauma that road deaths cause, and therefore an effective deterrent to bad driving or careless pedestrian behaviour. Why should it be alright for road safety films to be shown on TV with graphic scenes of death and suffering, but not alright for the public to express their grief at the misbehaviour caused by people ,for example, listening to mobile phones while they drive one handed, often while going round a corner, which I see all the time?
Michael W Thomas, Dinas Powys,Bro Morgannwg,Cymru

Why not allow friends and relatives to contribute to a permanent sign of some kind to act as both a focal point for their grief and act as a warning to other motorists. This should be no more of an issue to motorists safety than any other type of road sign.
Richard Mosley, Pickering UK

I think the tributes should certainly be removed after an appropriate time period, not necessarily because they're dangerous, but because decaying flowers by the side of the road are an eyesore. Here in Feltham one of our main roads is lined with rotting tributes that are certainly not fitting memorials to those killed in such a tragic way.
Liz Johnson, Feltham, Middlesex

I believe if people want a focus point to display their grief, then the most appropriate place would be a graveyard or garden of remembrance (that is what they are there for). Teddies, shirts etc blackened with exhaust and other dirt and dead flowers within gaudy plastic wrappers flapping in the wind is not a very welcoming sight to visitors to the area and the cost of clearing up these tributes will eventually just add to our council tax bills. If it is that important for someone to lay a tribute at a scene of an accident etc, then at least make it a living tribute, eg, a pot of daffodils or the like that will flower every year.
Claire Griffiths, Carmarthenshire

Flowers placed at the roadside can be a dangerous distraction and should be stopped. Relatives should grieve in more personal ways. I suggest we adopt a French idea - black wooden life-size silhouettes placed at the sites of fatal accidents by local councils. As you drive and see the numbers of silhouettes on the roadside, you are far more aware of your driving and whether it is appropriate to the local conditions.
Rachel, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire

Graves and memorials are the place for flowers. Not at the place of death (or even at the place where the fatal injuries were sustained). After all we don't put flowers on the hospital bed where our relatives pass away.
Rob Lewis, Swansea

Yes, I do think these memorials are dangerous as they promote "rubbernecking" whilst motorists drive past.
Steve Chapple, Cardiff, Wales

The tributes underline how dangerous driving in this country is. Perhaps the authorities and Police should be more concerned about the initial cause of fatal accidents rather than trying to hide the results and their own lack of action. Time for zero tolerance on bad driving and speeding, not time for a discussion on roadside tributes. Roads aren't dangerous, its the idiots that use them.
Ted, London

My brother and his wife were killed by a stolen car. We planted a rose 10 feet away from the road against a wall. It has been stated by Bridgend council that it is a distraction, But Bridgend Council have just started erecting advertising signs on local roundabouts which are directly aimed at drivers, they are written in a script font so are difficult to read and as such are a real distraction. They are advertising local business. How hypocritical is that?
Anthony Mansell, Bridgend

I have no problem with it, it is a reflection of this grief obsessed culture that we have since Lady Di died. What I do have a problem with is 4-5 weeks after, all the rubbish and litter left after the flowers have died, you never see them come back and tidy it up. As I distraction, no problem I keep my eyes on the road not the sides, maybe if more people looked where they were going there would be less of this....
Graham Shephard, UK

Yes, I do think they're dangerous. I use the A48 to travel out of Cardiff towards Newport every morning, and during the last couple of weeks I've noticed the traffic is much heavier due to drivers slowing down to look at a very large tribute of flowers, football shirts and flags that has appeared on one of the bridges over the road. If people are looking upwards, they're clearly not concentrating on the road.
Anna, Cardiff