biker eats tree dies.

Last sat. i find 2 car loads of people in my woods by the road and i find out its the friends and relatives of a motorcycle driver that flew into the woods and got killed.The bikers here have been driveing way too fast and passing everything like its standing still.I think the guy was the one that allmost hit me last year.

I thought that Yule Gibbons falla was the last one to eat a tree?

What's with this modern idea of building a little "private" memorial on PRIVATE property? I thought that's what a PUBLIC place like a cemetery was for?

Most of those Ive seen are for the most part on the right-of-way (still public roadside easement portion) along roadsides NOT way up onto the non easement private property section. But even if not I'm sure not gonna tell a grieving family who just lost a son or daugher to get it off my property. Thats NOT to say others may or may not (NOT having researched the easement law in their state) have every right to do so, Im ONLY saying I wouldnt choose to do so if near my property.

Best wishes,

John T

Most of the right of ways here are three rods. Which generally just gets you to the back side of the road ditch. Most of the ones I've seen are on private property.
Possibly my property has cost me more dearly than others, and that establishes my defense of it. And I'm not wanting to argue with you John. I very much enjoy your conversations. But if you incrementally give private property away, you never get it back. We have plenty of public properties in this country, for various purposes. I visit our local cemetery often. I think everyone should. I don't know why, but when I see a little pile of flowers along the road, I think of the lives given for a reason, in sevice to their country. Those are the ones we need to be reminded of.

Most all of the county roads around here are on private property. Some day some smart lawyer will start a class action suit to make them pay for the lands that they have confiscated. They have about two acres of my place. Been thinking of putting up a toll gate. In town they make you put in a sidewalk an maintain it on your own property. The supreme court ruled that this is not legal in a case just north of me. I know if I lived in town they could just walk around my fence. They called it confiscation without due compensation.
Walt

Here in Virginia the code [33.1-206] prohibits memorials within right-of-way unless specifically approved by VDOT and then it must be a standard sign. That of course leaves the question of private property open to individual interpretation, to each as their conscience guides.

Bob you raise an interesting point with this issue of incremental encrouchment. If you give access to your property you can through the passing of time, establish a legal easement. Or so I believe.

Walt, I think if you went back in the records, it was done "all legal". What happened is that people built roads, and had to maintain them themselves. Then at some point, the county came along and said "If you'll just give us a right of way (or in some cases, easement), we'll take over the road and maintain it". There weren't very many people stupid enough to turn down that deal, and so the county road system came to pass.

I'd be willing to bet that when you bought your place, the legal description said "less roads" or some such. At least in Washington, the taxable acreage will reflect the part lost to roads- a 40 with roads on 2 sides will show an acreage on the county records of 38.xx acres.

As far as the little memorials, I guess I wouldn't begrudge someone. Heaven knows, we've had enough of a breakdown of family and culture that if something with that minor an impact helps bring them together, its fine with me.

There was one about 30 feet into a commercial farmer's field locally. He went around it that fall to harvest his wheat, but by the next spring, it had been moved out to the edge of the field, closer to the road. Not sure if he talked to the family first, but it was the same as it was before, just closer to the road and out of his way.

It was for a popular high school girl who had collided with a logging truck on her way to school. Happened about 10 years ago, and like most little memorials, it has fallen into disrepair. Ditto for the one on Burlington Northern property in town, where the kid was plugged into his Ipod, and didn't hear the train.

A few years back the illegals wanted the states to put up and maintain their memorials, as far as I know that hasn't happened yet.

I guess one could debate the idea of people putting a small memorial on private property and the question of whether the biker was reckless.

One thing is pretty sure. The family members and friends had nothing to do with the riders accident and are grieving and hurting.

You would be well within your rights to chase them and their flowers off your land.

Personally a few flowers and a wooden cross would not bother me.

Good luck,

Brad

Larry, we get the same thing here in Harford. I guess it helps the family get over the grieving after they lose a moron that doesn"t survive to see grandkids. I"d probably overlook it for a while to save them having bad feelings, but if it continues, ask them to take it to the cemetary to try to "connect" with him. Time and the elements will take care of anything they leave now.

One mistake on a bike will get you, as this video shows
impatient biker crash.

They did not put up a cross or anything it looked like they were trying to find a ring or something valuable.I did not chase them off and they left after awhile.

I can sympathize with friends and family that have lost loved ones. However I really dislike the memorials on the side of roads. Most of the time they soon become little more than roadside litter. I probably wouldn't take one down that was on my property until it became an eyesore but I wish people would find a different way to grieve and memorialize.

There was a thread on here last week about a highway death in Maryland too wasn't it? I suppose in the south it hasn't caught on, but the first monunents I remember seeing were on the way to Montreal. Tall white crosses in the middle of nowhere- but usually an intersection.. We stopped at one once just to read the inscription of one my mother remembered being there from when she was a kid. it was for people killed in 1914.... had to be one of the first car deaths in Canada. It is catching on in Mass and Conn, especially for highway patrol officers that didn't look both ways before opening the car door etc, and the highway depts or someone of 'influence' maintains them with a metal sign, paved turn off etc. I used to drive by small markers and plastic flowers on the side of the lonesomest straight level roads in the Adirondacks,,, and wonder how the heck they got into a fix like that in a safe looking place like that.... and I got a hunch that is the idea. I know they seem creepy or an invasion... but I suppose the idea is to be 'reminding' - to strangers- noticed by young drivers, bikers and people that just don't pay attention to how they drive.... no one wants their name on one of those...

It takes an average of three years for a person to get through the heavy part of greiving. BTDT. The memorial will probably not be kept up for more than a year, but you never know. Jim

I farm, I work, and I ride. As I read many of the posts below, I'm surprised at the assumptions about the rider being stupid and a moron and ??? Nobody here was there when it happened, so who here knows? He or she is dead. Could just as easily be a biker or someone else commenting about the dumb farmer that ended up under his tractor or dragged into a PTO or...

A few years ago a buddy and I decided to take a ride one Saturday on his new used hog. As it turned out, it wouldn't get above 60, so we got off the highway and onto the back roads where we would be out of the way, not be a problem or cause a problem. Then some fella in his pickup caught up to us, me, because I was following my buddy to make sure he made it home. This guy literally got up to my rear fender, about one foot off of it, me, in broad daylight with no excuses as we were doing about 50. Guy got on my rear tire and hugged me for miles. Whenever an oncoming car would get close to us, he'd pull up along side as though he was going to pass, but wouldn't pass, but rather try to push us off of the road, and as the oncoming car would get too close and we wouldn't go off into the ditch, then he'd drop back off of my rear tire about a foot off again. We even slowed down when there was no oncoming traffic so he could pass us, but he wouldn't. Kept riding so close that if I had been carrying a handgun, I could have leaned back, rested the grip on his hood and then put at least one between his eyes, and we could have rode off with no one to witness a thing and left him there. Good thing for him, I was not carrying or he would have gotten it and would have deserved it. Anyway for miles until we hit a cutoff and got out of his way, some guy that we had never seen before, did nothing to, tried to put us into a ditch, a tree, whatever. Indiana is long since a concealed carry state. If that guy ever seeks us, or me out again like that, it won't end the same as it did then, guaranteed. I'm one of the nicest guys anyone would ever want to meet, but that's up to them.

Mark

A loss is a loss, no matter how smart or dumb the person is or what they were doing when the number came up.... There are cemeteries and fireplace mantels for memorials, no reason to inconvenience a landowner or a road crew.......

If someone is gonna put up something at the scene, it should be a sign that says "don't drink and drive, don't speed, text, or ride like an idiot" whatever the circumstance was and be done with it.....

There are road side markers here,Usually just a small white cross.Not all sites where some one died on my road are marked but I think they should be.My friend fell asleep while driving and drifted in front of a tractor trailer.The driver put the rig into the woods but it didnt help.I know where the deaths happened because we took the fire truck to all accidents.If you drive 10 miles west on my road there are are 6 places where some one died on the road.No markers.I was driving west at 50 mph when a tour bus running over the speed limit caught up with me.I went up to the 55 speed limit.Bus kept pressing me.We were coming up on a blind intersection when a woman passed the bus and my truck.She crossed the solid line with no view of the road ahead.A fellow died at this intersection when He broadsided a pick up truck that was coming out of the blind side road.I pulled into a store parking lot to get rid of the bus.I dont drive much now.Too many fools on the road.Cop clocked a Prius doing 85 on the interstate.It had state license plates.