Grieving Mandurah family ordered to tear down son’s roadside memorial

Ben Kelly’s parents have been ordered to remove a roadside memorial the family placed at the crash site after their loved one’s death.

Mr Kelly died when a car collided with his motorcycle on Mandurah Road in Meadow Springs, and his family and friends erected a cross to remember him and as a reminder for other motorists to take care.

But Main Roads WA has told Ben’s mother Kylie Vernon the cross would be pulled down if they did not remove it by next Friday.

Ms Vernon said she was heartbroken.

“Two nights ago Ben's younger sister couldn't sleep, so she messaged me from her bedroom wanting to come down here and sit with him,” she said.

“So we're not going to let it go, absolutely not.

“If anything can come out of losing my son, it’s to make motorists aware of motorcyclists, to drill people about bike awareness, to prevent another young life being taken away.”

Ms Vernon and her husband Darrin said they wanted the memorial to be part of a campaign to save lives.

“If just a couple of motorists a day see it and just check to see if they’re driving safely, then that has to be a good thing,” said Mr Vernon.

Mr Vernon said he would chain himself and his bike to the memorial to keep it from being pulled down.

“And if need be, we'll bring Ben’s mangled bike down here and chain that up too,” Ms Vernon said.

“That's the harsh reality we have to deal with every day; that's what I have to look at every morning when I open to the garage door.”

A spokesperson for Main Roads WA said the memorial did not comply with the department’s roadside memorial policy.

“Main Roads respects the need for people to erect roadside memorials, but it must also provide a safe and efficient road network to all road users,” he said.

“To do this Main Roads needs to consider potential safety hazards including visual distractions to motorists, physical objects that could harm road users and the possible movement of personal items onto the road.

“Unfortunately the roadside memorial near the corner of Mandurah Road and Karinga Road in Meadow Springs does not fit this criteria.

“In addition, the large white cross carries many written profanities that most people in the community find offensive and unacceptable.”

But Ms Vernon said the swear words Ben’s friends had written on the cross in messages to Ben had been removed, and there were other crosses nearby that were just as big.

“There are other crosses just as big; there's a large cross on Ennis Ave, again a young fella that was killed on the side of the road and his cross has got laser lights on it,” she said.

“Now if that's not a distraction, then what is?”