Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire those roadside crosses

You've all seen crosses and other memorials along roads where someone died in an accident. Seems that you don't just go out and plant a cross for your loved one. Like everything else in this country, you need the government's permission. This set of rules is from Idaho. I assume other states do something similar. This only applies to state highways. I assume you need a permit for US highways and country roads, too.


Roadside memorials can be legal if permitted. “There is a form that needs to be filled out to make sure the roadside memorial is far enough off the road, out of the right of way, and of a standard type so it doesn’t create a traffic safety issue for drivers,” said Reed Hollinshead, public information officer for Idaho Transportation Department. “Our first concern is safety, but we don’t want to short-circuit the grieving process or disallow remembrances when they adhere to a safety standard. Each district location of ITD has a traffic office to handle the requests.”

Idaho law says, as a means of promoting road safety, the transportation department, the state police and other law enforcement officers permit relatives or friends of a person killed in a traffic accident upon a state highway may apply for a permit to erect a memorial in memory of the decedent. The memorial should be erected adjacent to the portion of the highway where the accident occurred so the memorial serves as a reminder that a fatality occurred.

The statute also said only one memorial may be placed per fatal accident.

The maximum dimensions of a memorial are 36 inches high, 16 inches wide and no more than seven pounds. Memorials should not resemble or conflict with traffic control devices, and should not use reflectors. Planting or landscaping at a memorial is not allowed.

Memorials must be erected near the milepost where the accident occurred. The person installing the memorial is responsible for contacting a utility company to identify the location of any utilities in the area. The applicant is also required to meet on-site with the department highway maintenance supervisor to review the proposed installation. The supervisor will be responsible for final approval.

Memorials must be placed a minimum of 20 feet from the roadway shoulder. Placement of a memorial in the median of any interstate or non-interstate highway or within the boundaries of incorporated cities is prohibited.

Permittees should park their vehicle away from the travel lanes and in an area where there is adequate sight distance on the highway in both directions. They must wear proper safety attire and obey all safety procedures approved by the department.

The department is not responsible for maintenance, vandalism, damage, or theft of a memorial.

Memorials not installed in compliance, not maintained in good condition, or create a traffic hazard are subject to removal by the department.

“You should check with the agency that controls the right-of-way where the memorial will be placed like the city engineering department, highway district or state department of transportation,” said Woody Cullen, code enforcement officer for the city of Twin Falls.

sounds reasonable.....bob

They are all over down here!

In Montana they are white markers not crosses. LOL

'...to make sure the roadside memorial is far enough off the road, out of the right of way...'

Does that mean 'on private property'????

Florida has them, not exactly 'regulated' though............ go past one a couple times a week that is more like a church chapel memorial, lots of flowers, solar lights, etc., even a wooden picnic table set up under the trees....

Florida road side Mems. are supposed to be up for only a year, IIRC..... seems to be no limit on the number of crosses

Usually the highway dept will have an easement that's wider than the road. The right of way is the area where cars can go and often the easement is wider than that.

while i empathize, i think there are better ways and places to memorialize their loved ones than putting a schitty memorial along a highway.

Yes, it'd seem they're against memorials.

I've driven lots of miles in Mexico (years ago, not recently)...

Those highways must be pretty dangerous there.

The white crosses look like a picket fence lining any highway you want to travel.

My parents took a long tour of Mexico years ago before it got dangerous. They said the roads are something else. To start with, construction crews don't use cones or barrels to divert traffic. They use large rocks. It gets worse from there.

I have a good friend who is a heavy equipment operator and did lots of road work down in southern Ohio. He said they encountered lots of family burial plots out in the middle of nowhere and had to go through official channels to get them moved. If you go south on 11 out of Canfield heading down into the hill country and watch off to the sides, just outside the fences, you'll see markers from family plots that had to be moved due to the road construction.

There were to be placed on edge of ROW here after filling out a form that was filed in the local maintenance office responsible for that section of road. A formality as a memo of agreement that it would
Not be a hazard to errand vehicles and that the state was not responsible to any damage it may incur by mowing or utility contractor. Also to assure it’s placement would not interfere with any underground utilities etc.

Since I left the local district TxDOT maintenance ops office at district 12 years ago, the roadside memorials have really gotten more "complex" than the solitary white wooden cross that used to be the only thing allowed.

I have seen hundreds of them while driving cross country in the big rig. I like these memorials.
There may be rules about them but usually the rules are ignored. The cops and the highway mower guys who are supposed to enforce the rules have a reverence towards these shrines and they tend to leave them alone.

These days many of these shrines are decorated with solar powered lights and they look beautiful at night.

I live near a dangerous corner where there are a few of them. Some are 20 years or older and have become nothing but barrow pit litter. The highway crews have left them there but they aren't complimentary to the deceased. They need to be removed or replaced and I doubt it'll get done.

They put those "shrines" up all over the place here... wish they would plant a tree or flower instead. Lots of people put them up off the ROW on someone else's property...

This ^^ something else to mow around

Why no memorials at hospitals or care facilities?

When I was young, I remember that an insurance company (I think) would put up a sign at the location of traffic deaths herein Iowa as an incentive to drive safely. There would often be a grouping of signs at a railroad crossing. Anyone else remember this? Richard?

The "Think" signs John. It's been many years now since I've seen them.

Then there is this.