Mother wants a roadside memorial to her son

Published 11:06 pm Tuesday, February 12, 2008

ARLINGTON — When Adrian Kuchin died last summer in a traffic crash, the Marysville teenager’s mom hoped that some good might come of an otherwise senseless death.

Gail Chute lobbied state Department of Transportation officials in October to put up a memorial sign alongside the road east of Arlington where her son, 17, died. Police said speed was a factor in the Sept. 6 crash.

Chute wants the sign to be a stark reminder to get people to slow down.

“All I want to do is to have awareness for speeding and save some lives,” she said. “I don’t the same thing to happen to someone else’s son.”

State law currently permits roadside signs remembering victims of drunken driving but not speeding.

Three people from around the state, including Chute, have asked for a change in the policy, said Pat O’Leary, who runs the roadside sign program for the Transportation Department.

He’s completed the initial research necessary to draft a policy change, he said.

Several other states allow the memorial signs, with each state taking different approaches to incorporating the signs under the strict laws that regulate roadside signs, he said.

When he completes the research, the policy changes must be approved by Transportation Department officials, the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, the state attorney general’s office and the Federal Highway Administration, O’Leary said.

Once the policy is in place, O’Leary said, he’ll contact Chute and the other people asking for the signs.

Chute said she wishes O’Leary would do more.

“I really wish they’d keep in contact with me,” she said. “It’s discouraging, but I will not give up.”

The Rules

Gail Chute wants the state to allow her to put up a sign warning people to slow down at the spot where her 17-year-old son died in a speed-related traffic crash. The state allows signs for DUI victims but not victims of speed.

Roadside memorial signs for DUI victims: Since 1994, about 120 signs in memory of people killed by drunken drivers have gone up on the state’s roads. They cost up to $700 and include the name of the person killed.

What are other states doing? Colorado, Florida and Virginia now offer “Please Drive Safely” signs with victim plaques. Other states allow icons — either stars or crosses — at crash sites.

What is Washington doing? Officials are studying the issue and plan to make recommendations and draft a new policy that would allow memorial signs for more than just victims of drunken drivers.

For more information: Go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/biz/trafficoperations/traffic/duisigns.htm or call 360-705-7296.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.