Why all those sad crosses by the roadside?

Elind

Philosopher
Elind
Joined
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Messages
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S.E. USA. Sometimes bible country
I have a question. I'm sure we have all seen those white crosses with plastic flowers along the roadside, where presumably someone died in an accident. No doubt they have meaning to someone, but I am curious about WHO it is that places these and what tradition it is. I have seen them in South America also, so I'm guessing it's a latin/catholic tradition, but I'm not sure.

I also find it "logically" odd in that the place to grieve would seem to be at the grave, not where an accident happened which would just bring back unpleasant thoughts.

So, does anyone know how or where this tradition orginates, and what culture it is that places them?
 
No idea, but I've seen them all over the place as well. And Australia is nowhere near as catholic as most of South America.
 
I think the tradition is hispanic in origin. For as long as I can remember the little (sometimes big) crosses marked places where people died in accidents down here in South Texas. Mexico has a holiday just for the dead. Dia del muerte. There's a big death thing in the hispanic culture. The county lets the crosses stay as a reminder about safe driving.
 
uruk said:
The county lets the crosses stay as a reminder about safe driving.
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Same over here, in Germany. The mothers of the dead place a cross, along with a candle, excatly at the spot near the road where their sons (it's mostly sons) died. Makes people remember the dangers of driving.
 
They are quite popular here in the St. Louis area as well. Frequently, survivors of the deceased will build quite elaborate "shrines", with fresh flowers, signs, photos, etc.
 
If someone crashed into a tree on your front lawn and was killed, would you allow the relatives to erect a "shrine' on your property?
 
I'm not convinced that it's of Hispanic origin. There are hardly any Hispanics here, but plenty of roadside shrines. Usually with flowers, but not with candles.
 
wahrheit said:
Same over here, in Germany. The mothers of the dead place a cross, along with a candle, excatly at the spot near the road where their sons (it's mostly sons) died. Makes people remember the dangers of driving.
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Plus placing a tribute there allows people to stop and read them, where as few people spend much time in a graveyard... places which usually have rules governing what may be placed on a monument too, something road side tributes are not limited by. Combine this with being at the location where the death occured, and you get a far more powerful testimonial for the deceased than you would otherwise get.

In the UK it's usually just flowers however which are placed, as well as rememberance cards, not crosses.
 
arthwollipot said:
I'm not convinced that it's of Hispanic origin. There are hardly any Hispanics here, but plenty of roadside shrines. Usually with flowers, but not with candles.
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I guess it's Catholic, I've seen many of those crosses (with candle!) in the south of Germany, which is predominantly Catholic. Just like you I doubt it's of Hispanic origin, but a Catholic/Christian tradition. It's just a rather simple, wooden cross, with flowers and a long-term burning candle, one of those candles which burn for 78 hours and then are being replaced periodically.
 
P.S.A. said:
Plus placing a tribute there allows people to stop and read them, where as few people spend much time in a graveyard... places which usually have rules governing what may be placed on a monument too, something road side tributes are not limited by. Combine this with being at the location where the death occured, and you get a far more powerful testimonial for the deceased than you would otherwise get.

In the UK it's usually just flowers however which are placed, as well as rememberance cards, not crosses.
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Here's a typical picture of what they look like:
 
I never saw any until I went to Indiana 30 years ago, where I saw several. Now, I see them all over, in many places where there never were any before.

Some states are passing laws regarding where and how long these "shrines" can be placed.

I think the origin has to do with ghosts haunting the places where they died.

I wish folks would switch from that custom to the one long carried on by an admirer of E.A. Poe--every year, a bottle of cognac mysteriously appears at his tombstone.
 
wahrheit said:
Here's a typical picture of what they look like:
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Hmmm... those look professionally produced. It could just be that the idea reached critical mass; One person made a basic cross themselves due to the motivations of their own grief, someone else saw it when passing and the idea spread a bit further... eventually there was a market for such crosses, and it became formulised as a specific product you could use...

To be honest, I think you can only make educated guesses as to why this particular phenomina exists. It could be a mix of Catholicism in particular or powerful religious sentiment in general, and normal human grief... It could be just due to regional trends, and so on and so forth. I think the reasons for wanting to lay some sort of monument at the site of a loved one's death is emminently understandable... but why this particular idea, I cannot say for certain. I wonder if those who lay them even know themselves, except perhaps in that they think "Yes, that looks right, that shows respect?".

Basically, I dunno.
 
P.S.A. said:
Hmmm... those look professionally produced. It could just be that the idea reached critical mass; One person made a basic cross themselves due to the motivations of their own grief, someone else saw it when passing and the idea spread a bit further... eventually there was a market for such crosses, and it became formulised as a specific product you could use...

To be honest, I think you can only make educated guesses as to why this particular phenomina exists. It could be a mix of Catholicism in particular or powerful religious sentiment in general, and normal human grief... It could be just due to regional trends, and so on and so forth. I think the reasons for wanting to lay some sort of monument at the site of a loved one's death is emminently understandable... but why this particular idea, I cannot say for certain. I wonder if those who lay them even know themselves, except perhaps in that they think "Yes, that looks right, that shows respect?".

Basically, I dunno.
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From my point of view, 100% ack. Everything you say makes sense to me, as far as my experience with these crosses by the roadside goes. "normal human grief", "show respect", "Catholicism" (the cross, candle, flower thing), all this makes sense to me. And it would also fit the Hispanic tradition/religion mentioned before.
 
An acquaintance of mine died in an accident once, and his close friends erected a non-Christian roadside shrine for him.

I think one reason it is done is that the friends and family of the crash victim frequently have to drive by the place where the death occurred. It seems wrong to them to just leave it looking like any other spot on the highway.
 
P.S.A. said:
Hmmm... those look professionally produced.
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That occured to me too. I've wondered if there are people who have a business doing this, but I've never tried to find out. I think it's probably a good example of the birth of a "tradition", by osmosis as it were. However I still think that those who do it must have something more in common than just a tragic death.
 
Elind said:
That occured to me too. I've wondered if there are people who have a business doing this, but I've never tried to find out. I think it's probably a good example of the birth of a "tradition", by osmosis as it were. However I still think that those who do it must have something more in common than just a tragic death.
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The common factor is probably the road.
I suggested that there is a certain amount of awareness that more people will see the monument at the roadside (Meadmaker rightly points out that the victims family in particular will) and this will naturally lend itself to a different sort of consideration than the more deserted, and austere graveyard scene. You don't get crosses here in the UK because such overt religious sentiment has been frowned on for so long it's become part of the wider cultural understanding; such a roadside scene would be cheapening, not honoring the memory of the dead in the eyes of those who passed by. Whereas in the US, nominally Protestant as is the UK, the overtly religious is instead adored because the overall culture is different... by way of comparison, seeing this on the roadside would be unthinkable here;

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/holy/

(Dont forget to click on the chucklehead video link!)

So perhaps to the people placing the crosses, it is considered a tasteful epitaph to the deceased within their culture... Oh, one last point which I missed first time around, you say

I also find it "logically" odd in that the place to grieve would seem to be at the grave, not where an accident happened which would just bring back unpleasant thoughts.
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The cross is a way of wresting back some of those thoughts into something more palatable; Grief is a coping mechanism, and placing a memorial to someone's life there helps cope with the associated memories of their death there. It doesn't remove them of course, just changes them from bitter to bitter sweet. It's not logical, but then emotions aren't logical.
 
jimmygun said:
If someone crashed into a tree on your front lawn and was killed, would you allow the relatives to erect a "shrine' on your property?
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No, but I might make an exception if the "shrine" were the afore mentioned bottle of cognac! In fact I may very well encourage people to crash in my lawn... maybe even buy a winter home at the bottom of a steep hill with a sharp curve... hmmm.

wahrheit-
It seems the "crash site" is a bit close to the road. As if the car hit the gravel then exploded. I'm guessing that they should move their shrine back about 10 meters. Maybe part way up that tree...
 
P.S.A. said:
Plus placing a tribute there allows people to stop and read them, where as few people spend much time in a graveyard.
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It also causes passing motorists to look, thus providing an opportunity for the cross to produce offspring.
 
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