NH: Drunk-Driving Victims’ Kin Seek Roadside Memorial Signs

Makeshift roadside memorials have sprung up nationwide at the site of fatal alcohol crashes, and now advocates in New Hampshire say a similar concept could raise public awareness about the dangers of drunk driving, the Associated Press reported Nov. 9.

A bill in the state legislature would allow families of drunk-driving crash victims to apply to the New Hampshire highway department to place signs at accident sites reading, “Please Don’t Drink and Drive,” with the victims’ names underneath.

“The idea is to give an outlet for these families rather than these homemade signs you drive by every day and wonder what happened,” bill sponsor Rep. Jayne Spaulding said.

Current state policy calls for makeshift memorials to be removed after six months; Spaulding’s bill calls for the anti-drunk driving signs to remain in place for two years. Other states have passed similar laws.