Roadside memorials can be a poignant reminder on a daily commute: Be cautious because someone died here.

This year, El Paso County is considering creating an official way to commemorate lives lost on the roadway. The program, if approved, would be recommended to people contacting the county interested in a memorial.

The proposed program would encourage safe signage on the roadway, but El Paso County is not planning to prohibit or remove the many unofficial memorials along county roadways.

“We don’t touch them, generally, unless we absolutely have to,” said El Paso County Engineer Joshua Palmer.

They come in many different iterations, from simple white crosses to elaborate displays. Colorado law generally allows them on county roads, unless the county itself creates a permitting process or the memorial causes a safety issue.

Policies are not uniform across all Colorado roads. In Adams County, only official roadside memorials are allowed, and all others can be removed with an attempt made to return the memorial to family. In Jefferson County, all requests to the county for a sign must also be made through an official application process.

State highways also have an official sign program through the Colorado Department of Transportation, while makeshift signs can be taken down.

Across the Southwest, roadside memorials are a traditional way to recognize crash victims. Called descansos, or “places of rest,” memorials can be elaborate and follow certain styles, like a “ghost bike” painted white for a person killed on a bicycle. In New Mexico, it is illegal to deface a descanso unless a state official must remove one due to road obstruction.

Since signs put up by El Paso County need to follow certain transportation signage rules, the memorials won’t be very personalized. The signs under consideration would be 36 inches by 18 inches, with a contrasting blue-and-white color scheme.

The draft rules include five text options, which would depend on the nature of the fatal crash.

Wrecks where the memorialized decedent was convicted of driving impaired or was later shown to be intoxicated through toxicology would have the option of “Don’t Drive Impaired” and “Don’t Ride Impaired.” Those memorials would not include the person’s name, instead saying “sponsored by” a person, family or group.

Crashes where a person died without wearing a seat belt can bear the phrase “Please Buckle Up.”

All other fatalities would have the option of “Please Drive Safely” or “Please Ride Safely.”

The county’s first memorial, a pilot case, memorializes Onesimo “Oney” Vigil, who died in a motorcycle crash in 2017.

The program would charge a fee of $100, an amount that Palmer said is much less than the full cost of erecting a sign. Once the county approves an application, it would have 60 days to put up the memorial.

The signs would stay in place for five years, with an optional two-year extension. After that period, the county would give the signs to the family member or sponsor.

While the sign program is meant to be an alternative to makeshift memorials, El Paso County Administrator Bret Waters said the program wasn’t meant to be prohibitive.

“We’re going to be flexible with family members and exercise good judgment,” he said.

The program would also allow law enforcement agencies to create memorials for officers who die on county roads while in the line of duty.

The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners will likely vote on the program at an upcoming meeting. Commission Chair Carrie Geitner said she wanted to review the proposed program rules.

“I just want to get all the details before I vote on something,” she said.