A Cross Marks the Spot: A Study of Roadside Death Memorials in Texas and Oklahoma

Abstract

Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) resulting in death have been a serious concern for many years. However, the placement of roadside death memorials (RDMs) at collision sites has become increasingly common in the United States, in the memorialization of those deceased because of MVCs. This practice has been used in numerous countries for hundreds of years. Of the 78 sites observed, most were for males whose deaths had occurred in the past year and were placed by both family members and friends. The sites include the use of a cross and flowers whose meaning is obvious; however numerous other artifacts are found, the meaning of which is less obvious. Some of the functions served by these memorials are to prolong the memory of the deceased in a public place and to communicate with the deceased and to society. RDMs are used by mourners as a way of coping with the sudden and tragic nature of deaths from MVCs.

Drivers’ perceptions and reactions to roadside memorials

“…Safety issues identified included rear end collision involvement of drivers stopping at a memorial, driver distraction and the potential of memorials being fixed objects. Finally, since the main structure of memorials is often a simple cross (Reid and Reid, 2001), which is a religious symbol for some segments of the population, it may result in some state-church complications for policy makers.…”

“…These sanctified, holy, rest areas which are called Descansos (Spanish for 'resting place') have since evolved into markers of the location of traffic fatalities by the side of the road (Nance, 2001). The vast majority of memorials consist of a cross, often white, with flowers, photos, notes, cards, dolls or various other memorabilia (Everett, 2000;Clark and Franzman, 2006;Collins and Rhine, 2003;Reid and Reid, 2001). Collins and Rhine (2003) conducted a survey of the bereaved families to identify their purposes in placing the memorials.…”

Roadside memorials from a geographical perspective

“…The first one is bottom-up and consists of a large scale search of the sites where fatal road accidents have occurred (see Hartig & Dunn, 1998;Reid & Reid, 2001). This method is very time-consuming.…”

“…Their story illustrates how roadside memorials have become places where rituals take place. Roadside memorials are frequently seen in the Netherlands (authors' database) and in other countries (Clark & Franzmann, 2006;Collins & Rhine, 2003;Doss, 2006;Hartig & Dunn, 1998;Reid & Reid, 2001;Ross, 1998). However, the phenomenon is not new.…”

Authority from Grief, Presence and Place in the Making of Roadside Memorials

“…Clark and M. Franzmann Reid & Reid, 2001;Santino, 2001;Smith, 1999;Zimmerman, 1995). At the same time, there have been some attempts to go beyond what may be called an initial response to the phenomenon to examine key features or issues in order to move closer to a better understanding of the meaning and purpose of the phenomenon (Clark & Franzmann, 2002).…”