Rosalie and John Dows, of Baranduda, hope talking about the monstrous effect of their son Steven's death may help prevent road tragedies.

"I'd like people to realise that we didn't ever think this would happen to us, it can happen to anybody," Mrs Dows said.

"You just don't consider that in the blink of an eye, their life is going to be wiped away."

In August 2016, Steven, 43, died in a head-on car crash at Wooragee just days after he'd moved into his new Yackandandah home with his wife Maggie.

A longtime fire brigade member, Mr Dows had attended many road incidents.

"You never think when you go to somebody else's accidents that you're going to experience one of your own," he said.

The Dows plan to share their feelings as part of programs run by Road Trauma Support Services Victoria, a not for profit organisation that aims to reduce the incidence and impact of road trauma.

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On Tuesday they spoke of their son with laughter and some tears, remembering an engineer who loved nature, motor sports and invention.

"He was absolutely involved in life, he was passionate about everything,' Mrs Dows said.

"He had an opinion on everything - generally a constructive and a very well-thought-out opinion," she added with a laugh.

Since the crash, Mr and Mrs Dows have become so much more aware of the pain that lies behind television reports of road incidents.

"This must be happening to families every day, it's terrible really," Mr Dows said.

The couple urged people to love their children, make memories, take photos and always - always - be careful when driving a car.

"It's like fire, it's a wonderful tool but it can be a devastating consequence if it's used the wrong way," Mrs Dows said.

"Those photos, those memories you have made can become all you have got so very, very quickly; I wish it would never be that way for anybody else."