Read more: Local, State, Community, Travel, SCDOT, Memorial Signs, Traffic Fatality Signs
COLUMBIA (WACH) -- The South Carolina Department of Transportation is selling memorial road signs for loved ones to honor those who have died in traffic crashes.
In a release from the SCDOT Thursday, they announce they'll be offering the roadside signs for $250 starting August 9.
The memorials with victim names or a generic phrase will be placed near the accident site.
The department says the standard signs are an effort to make placing memorials safer.
“In years past, families that have lost loved ones have put their own lives in danger when placing memorials along roadsides," explains Transportation Secretary H.B. Limehouse Jr. "The SCDOT memorials will provide a dignified and safe way to honor their lost family members. The uniform memorial and plaque will provide a safe remembrance for lost love ones, but our commitment is still focused on reducing fatalities and the need to place these memorials."
Immediate family members may purchase a memorial to stand for two years. The fee will go toward the production, placement and maintenance of the sign according to the SCDOT.
According to SCDOT Director of Communications Pete Poore, any non-DOT sign or memorial on a highway is already illegal, and will continue to be illegal once the new memorials start going up. Many homemade memorials remain on highways because of the time and manpower it would take to remove them. SCDOT does remove any memorials that they deem pose a hazard to drivers.
Poore added that the signs are cost neutral and the $250 charge includes construction, installation and maintenance of the signs as well as removing it and sending it to the purchaser after two years.
