The memorials are sincere and original in that there is nothing on television or in the popular media telling people how they should look. The U.S. practice of roadside memorials probably has its roots in the Indian and Hispanic cultures of the Southwest, Nance and others said. Called descansos, Spanish for resting places, they began when pallbearers hand-carried bodies to burial. Each time they rested, they would pray, carve crosses into rocks and pile the rocks along the roadside. But despite the traditions from which they've sprouted and comfort they provide, roadside memorials often are the bane of highway crews.
Roadside memorials are illegal on state highways in many states, including Wisconsin.
It is no small task. State transportation officials estimate that up to half of Wisconsin's highway deaths each year result in a roadside memorial. That's as many as 400 memorials each year. It's a political minefield the departments and politicians don't want to walk into, so generally they try to control the excesses and hope that things don't get out of hand. Griffin's family and friends have avoided trouble by placing their memorial on private property near where Griffin died April 10.