Roadside memorials are often seen on the side of a street or highway after the death of a loved one in a car accident. While a grave marks the place where a body is finally laid to rest, the roadside memorial marks the last place a person was alive. The memorial is usually cared for by family and close friends and is decorated with flowers, messages and a cross or plaque. However, often controversial, these families believe that their moral authority to remember a loved one trumps any government regulations put in place. Although they have only recently appeared in the Western world, they demonstrate cultural norms through the materials left behind. memorial site; often they reproduce structures similar to those of ancient tombs, RIPs, messages on headstones and recitals like those at traditional funerals. In this sense, the traditional represents a memorial and funeral in a religious setting. These new memorials often do not find meaning in religious contexts after a sudden and tragic death. In this case, proxemics manifests itself in the feeling that the surviving families have the feeling that the place of their loved ones' death belongs to them; identity is constructed through the objects left behind. Those who stay put don't want death to go unnoticed and want to connect to the last place a loved one was alive. They feel empowered to do so because of the tragic event that happened there. After such a tragedy occurs, the common public space becomes a private place of tribute. Whether through photos, personal messages or a cross, the items left behind reflect the deceased's influence on their surviving friends and family. The difference becomes more obvious when carried out through a civil ... middle of paper ... religious institution, they are generally not identified with religion, as crosses are general markers of death and sacred rather than purely Christian symbols. Traditionally, these small white crosses were used to mark the resting areas of a funeral procession. In a religious sense, a cross can be used for the Christian purpose of forgiveness. While there may be debate over how crosses violate the constitutional principle of separation of church and state by promoting religion, the crosses used at roadside shrines are simply there to mark a solemn event. In recent years, the use of a cross has become a secular representation of death and burial. Outside the roadside memorial, crosses are visible on military, Jewish and irreligious graves. The cross has moved out of the church and has now transformed into a global sense of sacredness and reverence..