Paper long abstract:

In 2006 thirty four white wooden crosses were erected along the Suðurlandsvegur, one of Iceland's busiest routes. A private initiative at their unveiling the man responsible for the crosses claimed that each represented a life lost on that road. He added that the crosses would remain there until the road had been made safe by turning it into a dual carriageway. The erection of the crosses expressed increasing concerns over road deaths in Iceland during the summer of 2006, many of which were attributed to speeding drivers. It coincided with the height of the Icelandic economic boom, understood to be the result of the speed with which Icelandic entrepreneurs operate. This paper tells the story of the wooden crosses in order to discuss roads as a site of opportunity and danger, crisis and promise, individual grief and global capitalism.