Story Archive

Crossing a Line

Texas legislators passed a law in 2011 to raise motorcycle safety awareness, calling for memorial signs near fatal motorcycle crash sites. According to TxDOT, the signs must have a blue background with white writing including the deceased’s name, the date of the crash, the words “In memory of” and “a red cross.” The red cross — in the shape of the Latin cross, not like the Red Cross organization’s — is required regardless of the religious beliefs of the deceased. Christi Hall, a victim’s mother-in-law, said their family wanted to put something motorcycle-related on the sign, something that could help people realize a motorcycle crash had happened there, but the law prohibits that. But isn’t the government posting of a religious symbol problematic? “The design of the sign, including the use of this specific cross, was selected by TxDOT’s Traffic Division,” says Phil Wilson, who was the executive director of TxDOT when the rules were enacted. “The red cross design was selected by TxDOT as a nonsectarian symbol of death, and not to advance or endorse Christianity.” (MS/Austin American-Statesman) ...Seems like the Grim Reaper would be a more recognizable “nonsectarian symbol of death.”