Authority from grief, presence and place in the making of roadside memorials

Those who make memorials for the victims of motor vehicle crashes assume an authority to do so that stems from three main elements of experience: the overwhelming empowerment of grief; the belief that the presence of the deceased can be felt and recognized; and the understanding that the place where life was lost is a special place for memorialization. The strength of grief, the power of presence and the importance of place allows ordinary people to assume and, therefore, challenge the authority of the church and the government as official purveyors and regulators of mourning ritual.