Maryland is cracking down on roadside memorials:
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - State officials are cracking down on some roadside memorials to people killed in accidents because the tributes are so large that they've become distracting to drivers.
Until recently, highway officials have only loosely enforced a law against unauthorized memorials on state-maintained shoulders and medians.
We tried to replace makeshift roadside memorials in Indiana back in 2003 with uniform signs, but the General Assembly voted down the proposal, though other states have taken some action. The first few times I saw one of these tributes to traffic victims, I thought they were touching. But as they began to proliferate, the dangers became apparent. It's not exactly solving the problem if what you put up to protest what happened can cause more of what happened.
