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Main Roads takes items from roadside memorial leaving Perth mother ‘appalled’ months after crash death of son

A grieving mother who has advocated for road safety has been left devastated after Main Roads ripped down flowers and teddy bears from her son’s memorial site amid claims it posed a safety risk to drivers. Georgia Cipriano’s 17-year-old son Levent died in September after his car was hit by a truck in Jarrahdale, at the intersection of South Western Highway and Jarrahdale Road. His sudden passing led Ms Cipriano to channel her grief and begin advocacy in the road trauma space, including by speaking to school students at Royal Perth Hospital. But since Monday, the family has been left “appalled” by Main Roads after teddy bears and flowers from Levent’s roadside memorial were removed and stored away without warning. Ms Cipriano said workers left cable ties scattered around the site and made no effort to contact her, despite her family previously making a complaint about the same intersection her son died at. Main Roads claims the memorial was unregistered and that they had no contact details for the owner. A spokesperson claimed some items on the memorial were identified as a safety risk. “The memorial is not registered with Main Roads, and some items on the memorial were considered a road safety issue as they impeded driver sightlines,” a spokesperson said. “Main Roads provides advanced notice to owners where roadside memorials are registered, and require modification or removal. “Unfortunately, as this memorial was not registered, the agency was unable to contact the owner prior to its removal.” Ms Cipriano refutes the claim the items posed a risk. “A bit of compassion isn’t hard,” she said. “We have been working behind the scenes to raise awareness about road safety, (we have been) trying to get Levent’s story out so young kids are aware of how easy it is to die in an accident, and they just pull it down like it’s nothing. “There have been previous complaints about that corner from my mother prior to Levent’s accident and from other people in the Jarrahdale community — Main Roads haven’t changed anything yet. “They get one complaint about the memorial site, and they go and rip it down without any notice.” Main Roads made “modifications” to the site and removed multiple items, with at least three signs cable-tied to the memorial on Monday by the organisation — including to the cross. One of those signs said items taken away by Main Roads would be held in storage for “four months”. When responding to The West, Main Roads said the items were taken in accordance with their policy around roadside memorials. Another sign claimed Main Roads were conducting roadworks in the area and that the memorial needed to be removed or relocated until the works were finalised. The other said it was unregistered. Main Roads said they received a “customer complaint” in early February regarding the site before items were taken down, without notice, on Monday. Ms Cipriano claimed someone from Main Roads, who she spoke with over the phone earlier this week, could not tell her where the items had gone. She thought they could have been stolen until Main Roads responded to The West’s media enquiry this week. “Main Roads regrets any undue stress caused by the removal of these items and will now arrange for these items to be returned to the owner,” the spokesperson said. “Main Roads will also reach out to the owner to discuss suitable, alternate memorials to ensure they have a safe space to visit the site.” Ms Cipriano said the sudden removal and “rubbishing” of the site was “not acceptable”. “Having this place we can go to, where he took his last breath, it’s the closeness for us . . . that’s all we have of him,” she said. “His friends go there at least once a week to go sit and watch the sunset with him, I’ve had people message me and say that they have had open conversations with their children about road safety (after seeing his cross). “My mother found Levent’s accident the day it happened before we were notified by police, so for her, it was almost like reliving that trauma again going down the end of the street and finding his memorial site in this state.” The memorial included a marble cross with her son’s name engraved and flowers and teddy bears which partially warped around a pole. Both the bears are still in possession of Main Roads. One of those bears had the number 18 on it because Levent died one week before his 18th birthday. A sign on top of the pole directed drivers to a nearby road, but the flowers did not cover the sign. “I have his his urn at home, but we can’t go out and buy flowers for him and put it in the house, because it just doesn’t feel right,” Ms Cipriano said. “Having this place we can go to, where he was last alive, or took his last breath, for us it’s about the closeness. “That’s all we have of him.” Main Roads said there were 700 registered memorials around WA, with about 200 in the metropolitan area. Road trauma support: 1300 004 814

The West Australian exclusiveMain Roads takes items from roadside memorial leaving Perth mother ‘appalled’ months after crash death of son

exclusive
Main Roads takes items from roadside memorial leaving Perth mother ‘appalled’ months after crash death of son