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Toward more fitting memorials

Pinellas commissioners adopt a policy both sympathetic and safety-minded for road fatality victims’ loved ones who want to erect markers.

By JOSE CARDENAS
Published June 21, 2006

All Edward Zapor’s friends wanted was to honor the 16-year-old who died in a motorcycle accident on 98th Street N near Osceola Middle School in Seminole.

The roadside memorial they put up stayed in place for a year, but it was illegal.

And when Zapor’s mother asked if Pinellas County would put up an authorized marker, she learned that the county, unlike the state of Florida, had no program to do that.

Her request, along with another one from friends of a couple recently killed in a Palm Harbor accident, prompted county commissioners to create a policy to provide memorials.

“I’m thrilled,’’ said Kitty Klaskow, 48, whose son Edward, an Osceola High School student, died in the motorcycle accident in 2003. “When I first thought about this, I thought if the state is willing to do this, I would think the county would be willing to do it also.’’

Pinellas officials will install the memorials in safe spots on county roads in unincorporated areas.
The memorials will be free to victims’ families. Officials hope the markers eventually replace the homemade memorials that they say can endanger pedestrians and drivers.

The signs will be 42 inches tall and 15 inches across. The standard message will be ''Drive Safely — In Memory.’’ The family will have the option to place the name of the victim or convey a more specific message, such as “Don’t Drink and Drive.’’ Additional decorations will be strongly discouraged.

The Florida Transportation Department began allowing the memorials in 1997, and local governments have followed its lead.

In Tampa Bay, Largo has a policy and Hillsborough County commissioners made their informal policy official on Wednesday.

“It’s really intended to fill a need people have,” said Michael McCarthy, director of the traffic services division of Hillsborough County’s Public Works Department. “It also provides a safety message.”
Since 1999, Hillsborough has installed 61 of the  markers.

Pinellas commissioners who approved the program Tuesday were concerned that existing unauthorized memorials would be removed abruptly. “I would not want for government bureaucracy to add to a family’s grief,” Commissioner Calvin Harris said.

But Pete Yauch, the county’s transportation director, said workers usually maintain a hands-off approach with illegal memorials unless they are a hazard. While the public learns about the new policy, Yauch said, the department will take the same approach unless illegal memorials pose safety concerns.

Robert Dowding of St. Petersburg asked the county for a memorial after off-duty Pinellas County Deputy Robert Pack and his girlfriend, Debra Nolan, were killed on their Harley-Davidson on East Lake Road in April. Nolan was a good friend of Dowding’s wife, Laurie.

“They were important to a lot of people,” Dowding said.

Pinellas averages 110 to 120 fatalities a year, Yauch said. About 35 of those are in the county’s jurisdiction. If the families of 35 people requested a memorial, Yauch said it would cost the county just under $10,000.

The Public Works Department could begin installing memorials by mid July, Yauch said. By then, the department expects to produce a request form and determine how to make them accessible to families. Friends of victims also will be allowed to make requests, though those would have to be approved by the victims’ families.

The markers, which will be left up for a year, cannot be in the exact spot of the accident if the location is unsafe. And no activities will be allowed at the memorial that violate laws against stopping, standing, parking or obstructing traffic.

“I know people grieve in different ways, and I’ve seen some of those things get blown up way too big and they really become a hazard,” said Dowding, 41, who works at a nuclear pharmacy.

The county’s proposed memorial “is a simple sign,” Dowding said, “but at least it’s a reminder. Maybe it will help people pay attention a little better.”

Times staff writer Bill Varian contributed to this report.

ROADSIDE MEMORIALS
Pinellas County commissioners this week approved memorials for accident victims on county-maintained roads in unincorporated areas. They will be:

- Free to victims’ families.

- Forty-two inches tall and 15 across, with a safe driving message.

- Left in place for a year.

[Last modified June 21, 2006, 21:59:25]