• Links and Articles

Links to articles, commercial links, and anything related to Descansos
 
• United States Programs (Applications & Guidelines)
  "Memorial Signs" programs for different states & counties in the United States.
  
 
• Canadian Programs (Applications & Guidelines)
  "Memorial Signs" programs for different regions of Canada.

Aroadsidememorial.com
Beautifully-crafted Italian, decorative iron crosses which can be placed along highways
or roadways to commemorate your loved ones.

The Road as Shrine Project
By Sue Anne Ware of RMIT, Melbourne.
Website of the project to create a natural vegetation "shrine" to mark road fatalities alongside a stretch of highway near Morwell, Victoria.

Roadside Memorials—Some Australian Examples - Critical Essay
Folklore, Annual, 1999 by Robert James Smith

Roadside Memorials: Interpreting New Deathscapes in Newcastle, NSW
An article by Kate Hartig and Kevin Dunn. Published in Australian Geographical Studies, March 1998. (PDF file)


Roadside Memorials: Devotion or Distraction?
Article by Southern Cross University journalism student Ali McLennan
looking at road safety and public policy issues of roadside memorials in the Tweed Shire of NSW.


Road signs recall lives lost
New law authorizes memorials for those killed in crashes.
Article by Holly Yettick, Rocky Mountain News
September 8, 2004


New highway signs memorialize accident victims
by David Thomas

Battles over roadside shrines more common
By Deborah Sharp, USA TODAY
Tue Jul 12, 6:31 AM ET


Descansos - Thoughts From Hwy 2 in Montana
"In many states, personalized memorials are simply outlawed, and it's up to a state agency to honor the dead in a standardized, non-religious, bland and ultimately anonymous way."


3rd and 4th of July Prove to Be Lethal for California Drivers
More than 300 Americans are likely to lose their lives this 4th of July holiday weekend. The highway death toll may climb as high as 30 fatalities in California alone


Volunteers spruce up highways for the fall
By Tom Greenwood / The Detroit News

Memory-of.com - A memorial website
It is a forum to pay tribute to the departed and offer comfort to those left behind.
Memory-of.com is a tool to let you create and maintain a rich memorial website, which will be the focal point of a community that keeps your loved one's memory alive.

Descansos : Roadside Memorials on the American Highways
The custom of marking the site of a death on the highway is a traditional expression of love oand loss in an extremely public space.

surf-mexico.com - pilgrimage to examine the Roadside Memorial phenomenon
Most of these drive-by shrines are memorials to family members and friends who have died in traffic accidents. These modern day cairns traverse the artistic spectrum from the classic to the surreal, the modern to the primitive.

Roadside memorials - paying attention to sudden loss
Roadside memorials serve the same purpose as memorials to famous people. They ensure the person will not be forgotten.
Sally Harris - College of Arts and Sciences

Roadside Memorials of South Texas
Over the years of traveling South Texas highways on business, I have seen numerous roadside memorials erected along the major and rural highways. Hopefully these reminders will make us better drivers and keep the roadways a little safer.

Alaska 'Memorial' sign program
Application Procedure For a Memorial Sign For An Individual Who Was Fatally Injured in a Highway Accident

2007:: Arkansas establishes the "Highway Memorial Safety Program"
Guidelines &  New legislature

California - Victims Memorial Sign Program
California's Caltrans places and maintain memorial signs, along state highways,
that read "Please Don't Drink and Drive" followed by: "In Memory of ..."

Colorado - Highway Memory Sign Program
Dept of Transportation - 1-303-757-9446
Offers two programs -  Standard Memory Sign
 And the Don't Drink & Drive Sign for alcohol/drug related fatalities.

Florida - Highway Memorial Marker Program
Florida has a uniform, state-sanctioned marker. Each regional FDOT office handles creation & placement of memorials - but unfortunately no online application. See a description of the Highway Memorial Marker Program to contact the regional office where you want the marker placed.

Georgia - Memorial Sign Program
Application, criteria and description of program

Iowa - Memorial Sign Program
Legislature & description of Drunk Driving Victim Memorial Sign program

Indiana - Memorial Sign Program
Legislature allowing existance of program

2006:: Louisiana establishes the "Roadside Marker Memorial Program"
Guidelines &  New legislature

Michigan DOT's guide to specially designated Memorial Highways
Michigan has specially designated Memorial Highways within the state.
Standard names like 'AmVet Memorial Hwy' but many individuals.
 

2007:: Missouri establishes the "Drunk Driving Memorial Sign Program"
Guidelines &  New legislature

Nevada - Roadside Memorial Marker Program
Guidelines & description of program

2007:: New Mexico - Memorial Sign Program
Legislature & description of program
The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) has established an
alcohol-related crash victim Memorial Sign Program.

 Oregon - Memorial SignUp Program
Impaired Driving Victim Memorial Signing Program.
Oregon DOT established a Impaired Driving Victim Memorial Sign Program.

2007:: Texas establishes the "Memorial Sign Program"
Guidelines &  New legislature

Washington State - DUI Memorial Sign Program
The DUI Memorial Sign Program is a grass roots program, born from an idea of
people who had lost family members in collisions caused by drunk driving.

West Virginia - Roadside Memorial Marker Program
Application & description of program

Wyoming - Roadside Memorial Program
Application, criteria and description of program
This memorial depicts a broken heart with a white dove.
It is the most humanistic and non-bland memorial to be sponsored by any state.
 

2007:: Ontario, Canada establishes the "Memorial Sign Program"
MADD - Canada Press Release (Currently this program is only available in some areas of Canada - Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.)