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Updated: 10:39 PM Jul 27, 2010
Family Who Lost Loved One Praises State's Roadside Memorial Program
In one local community, a new road sign went up this morning as a simple reminder of a precious life.
Posted: 8:51 PM Jul 27, 2010Reporter: Carrie Cline Email Address: carrie.cline@wsaz.com |
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10 Comments 
CABELL COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Road signs mark everything from speed and turns to where to stop and how much farther you have to go to reach your destination.
But, in one local community, a new road sign went up Tuesday morning as a simple reminder of a precious life.
While road signs go up everyday, few go up with an audience.
For Stephanie Call, it was is a solemn ceremony on hallowed ground.
"Knowing this is the last place she was alive and then where she died," Call said about her daughter Kelsey Kuhn. "It's really hard. It's really hard."
It was a school morning that day -- April 2, 2009. Kelsey was on her way to St. Joe High School in Huntington with her friend, Meghan Crawford.
Meghan's mother, Carole, was driving. But, as the three headed down Alternate Route 10 in Cabell County, a vehicle driven by Erma Brown crossed the center line -- hitting them head-on. Kelsey, Meghan and Carole all died at the scene.
Brown later was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and abusing prescription drugs.
"The day Kelsey died is the day I died," Call said in court earlier this year when Brown was sentenced.
Family and friends erected homemade roadside memorials for the three. But Call wanted something safer and more permanent with a message that cuts straight to the point.
"Hopefully, they'll slow down," Call said. "This is a really dangerous area. The markers we've put up before have been destroyed by wrecks since my daughter was killed here. Hopefully, they'll remember and slow down and be careful and think about what they're doing. I think the signs are a great, safe way to remember a person you lost to help keep a memory alive, and I hope to see more of them up. You notice a lot of them in places just like this that are so dangerous, and I think they can help save people."
The roadside memorial sign costs $200 for three years. A family can extend that time by three more years for an additional fee of $200. At the end of the three or six years, the sign will be removed and given to the family.
Latest Comments
I'm so sorry for your loss. We lost our son on March 19th 2007. Due to either drag racing, or the other driver was drunk, or on drugs.. We'll never know what happened to our son on that highway that March evening. His mustang had been rear ended by a company truck, and the BOY DROVE off, didn't even so much as call 911 to get him help. And today 3 years, 4 months, and 10 days later. NOTHING has been done to the driver of that truck. and YES MANY OF our roads are so dangerous to drive on.. And many many times people have gotten killed without another bein at fault. Our officers we have here in "WAYNE" isn't trained to handle car wrecks like the one my son was in.. SO THEY JUST RULED OUT DRAG RACING. AS WELL tried to get us to believe the towing company did all the damage to our son's car.. ISN'T TRUE!! It was rear ended.. AND AGAIN SORRY I WROTE SO MUCH.. I', checkin in on gettin a sign in memory of my son put up where he was killed. Thats a WONDERFUL thing you did for your child..
My heart goes out to Kelsey's family, as well as the Crawfords, for the terrible, terrible tragedy. I must, however, make a comment. I am getting tired of people saying a section of roadway is 'dangerous'. The actual fact is this section of highway is not dangerous. Junkies driving on drugs are. These people were killed at the hand of an impaired driver. It had NOTHING to do with a bad road. The Brown woman was sent to prison for this, not the road. If two vehicles collide on a road, then it is clear that SOMEone did something stupid, whether it be over driving road conditions, texting, or under the influence or a wealth of other stupidiy. The bottom line is that people need to take responsibility for their own actions. Don't blame the road...blame the one who did something stupid.
I don't think these signs are a good idea. If the area is dangerous enough that there was an accident causing death, then there doesn't need to be anymore distractions for drivers.
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