The Council recognises there maybe a need for bereaved relatives and friends to visit the scene of an accident and this maybe part of the grieving process. From a highways safety perspective there are potentially serious road safety concerns over this practise. The locations where many accidents occur tend to be at places where it is not safe to stop/or walk on the carriageway. The very act of laying tributes therefore creates a potentially dangerous situation. Given the potential state of mind of the mourners in terms of grief, and the fact their concentration is on their loss, the potential for a further tragedy becomes a real concern.
The Council wishes to discourage the practise of laying floral tributes but is not insensitive to the needs of mourners; therefore floral tributes will be left for up to 30 days following the death of the deceased. As flowers deteriorate they will be removed.
Where floral tributes are felt to have an adverse effect on safety (for example obstructing visibility for drivers etc), the Council will remove the flowers/tributes immediately.
In cases where Council Officers deem it necessary to remove floral tributes; the bereaved will where possible be given the option of receiving any items accompanying the tributes (cards etc).
In some instances the accident spot often becomes a place to revisit on anniversaries etc. Whilst this practice will be discouraged by the use of proper memorial facilities, it will be difficult to completely stop the practice. In such cases flowers/tributes will be removed one week after being re-laid.
The use of permanent memorials will not be permitted.
To ensure that all instances are treated equally the practice of placing memorials by the roadside, whether "green" or man made memorials such as trees will not be permitted. Memorials such as these are problematic and subject to repeat visits from bereaved which exacerbates the potential risks to the bereaved and could distract other drivers.
