There are certainly two sides to this argument but perhaps it would help to alleviate any ill-feeling among the parties to these disputes if there was a uniform approach to what is allowed at these memorials.

It is understandable families who lose loved ones in these crashes seek to remember them by establishing a memorial at the site of the crash.

Equally understandable is the anxiety felt by some that the memorials should not be at the roadside or at least be in a form that does not interfere with road safety.

VicRoads will need to carefully examine its existing guidelines to determine whether they should be changed and how the rules can be communicated to the general public to avoid conflict.

Quite rightly, road safety remains the authority’s highest priority and that must remain so in creating any new guidelines to establishing an appropriate memorial.

But once that is done, the umpire’s decision should remain and other parties should not interfere with memorials that receive VicRoads’ approval.