State Proposes Plan to Remove White Crosses

This state proposal sounds like a horrible idea.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/731714

Oct. 29, 2000, 10:42PM
Plan to replace crosses with signs irks originator
By ALLAN TURNER -- Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle

A state proposal to stop the erection of crosses on Texas roadsides to mark the sites of fatal alcohol-related accidents was dismissed as "ridiculous" last week by the Houston-area man who popularized the tradition. Under the staff recommendation to be considered by Texas Department of Transportation directors Nov. 16, accident sites would be marked by rectangular state-issued signs bearing the victim's name and, possibly, date of death.

Many of the proposal's details remain undetermined, said agency spokesman Randall Dillard, but the signs probably will be 3 feet by 2 feet and cost the state $300 each to produce and install. Cost to victims' families would be $100, and the signs could be obtained to mark the site of any fatal accident, regardless of cause.

The recommendation calls for leaving the memorial signs in place about 2 1/2 years, Dillard said. They then would be presented to victims' families. Existing crosses that do not pose a traffic hazard would be allowed to stand during an undetermined grace period. "The last thing we want to do is add to anyone's burden," Dillard said. He said many crosses, which became popular statewide after the Legislature approved them for Harris County in the mid-1980s, could be a danger to motorists.

"We required them to be no taller than 30 inches, that they be made out of soft wood, that they be as close to the right-of-way line as possible," Dillard said. "In fact, many didn't meet the guidelines. They were too big. Some were made out of hard wood. We found some planted in concrete. Some were made out of concrete." Dillard said his agency had a report of a fatal auto-pedestrian accident near a memorial cross but no reports of vehicles running into crosses.

Bryan Poole, who began the cross-raising tradition in Houston almost 20 years ago when his son Larry was killed in an alcohol-related accident, said last week that the state signs would pose a greater risk than the crosses. "I think it's ridiculous," said Poole, 71, a retired Fulshear auditor. "A sign of that size would cause people to try to read it as they go by. They'd probably slow down to do it. That would cause a serious hazard. Nobody tries to read the plaques on the crosses from the road. You can't do it. You have to stop and get out."

Poole erected the first cross at U.S. 290 and Mangum Road, the site of his son's death on Memorial Day 1983. Poole said he patterned it after those marking the graves of Americans killed in the Philippines during World War II. Publicity about his son's cross led to Poole receiving requests for crosses from families of other accident victims. He has provided more than 200 crosses to families living outside Harris County.
Harris County produces memorial crosses for accident sites in the county.

It was through his lobbying that legislation was passed allowing the crosses in Harris County. The practice gradually spread in Texas and other states.

Poole, who characterized his cross-making as "a labor of love," charges families $27.50 for the pine crosses and plastic plaques. The state's plan to charge $100 would put the memorials out of the reach of many families, he said. "I doubt that 10 percent of the people who get the crosses would be able to buy the signs," Poole said. "I plan to call Austin immediately to make sure I get to talk to the commissioners about this plan."

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They are a little depressing.

But, they have done more to increase awareness of the dangers of driving under the influence -- and hopefully to stop it -- than anything else that has been done. The best part is, the principal is voluntary -- no ticket or brethalyzer test -- they just make people think a little before drinking and driving.

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