In short:

Busselton teenager Dakotah Herring was just 19 years old when he died in a motorcycle crash.

His tragic death accounts for just one of the 122 people who have died on WA roads so far this year. 

What's next? 

A road safety summit has been held in Perth with ideas and initiatives discussed taken on notice. 

Parents of teenagers who lost their lives on West Australian roads this year say they hope some change will emerge from the state government's snap road safety summit.

From January to August, 122 people lost their lives on WA roads with 72 of those on regional roads.

Dakotah Herring was just your average teenager growing up in Busselton, 220 kilometres south of Perth.

At 19 years old, he loved motorbikes and his Holden Commodore. 

Mr Herring's mum, Carolyn Herring, said he had a wonderful, determined personality.

"Like most teens, he was headstrong with a kind-hearted soul who just loved his mates," Ms Herring said.

"And he loved his V8 Holden Commodore ute and his dirt bikes.

"Who would have thought that love of motorbikes would get him killed?" 

Mr Herring had been out on a motorbike ride with his dad on Saturday, March 30 when his mum received a phone call from her other son, Obie. 

That's when she heard the news that Mr Herring had died while riding a motorbike near the Busselton Cemetery. 

"He was just screaming that his brother had been killed and I needed to get home straight away," Ms Herring said.

"I was down in Walpole at the time and, for me, it was the longest trip back."

What are the solutions?

Perth dad Daniel Campo took centre stage at the summit to talk about his son, Nick, who died in a car crash in July.

"We have to change this thinking that it won't happen to me," he said.

Mr Campo told ABC Radio Perth he would like to see passenger limits for P-platers.

"I'm pleading with parents that when your P-plate drivers leave the house and you say to them, drive carefully, don't accept from them, yeah, I'll be OK. 

"Just double-check, triple-check everything. Please.  

"Even passengers that don't want to go into a P-plate car, resist the urge to get in the back. These drivers cannot be distracted."

Every state except WA, South Australia, and the Northern Territory already have some form of passenger limits.

"It needs to be uniform … but here in WA we are lagging," Mr Campo said. 

Director of road safety research Professor Teresa Senserrick said the summit was not a talkfest, but rather focused discussions around what can be done to limit road trauma. 

She said lowering speed limits was one of the most common themes discussed. 

"We're often focusing on people doing the wrong things and we know that a general rule of thumb is about 20 per cent of people cause 80 per cent of the problems," Professor Senserrick said. 

"Most of us are out there trying to do the right thing, but we are human, so we are subject to fatigue and distractions.

Six months on from the death of her son, Ms Herring said her world was still shattered.

She said her day usually starts with talking to Dakotah. 

"I always ask him how he is and then at least once a week I drive to the cemetery," Ms Herring said.

"His mates all go out to the cemetery as well.

"And I think being young kids they used to think they were invincible but, in a blink of an eye, your whole world can change." 

A 'terrible' first half to 2024

The government's long-term aim is a 50 per cent reduction in deaths and serious injuries by the end of the decade.

Premier Roger Cook said the state government must do everything it can to drive incidents of road trauma down. 

"We came here with a common purpose; how do we keep our roads and our community safer?" Mr Cook said.

"We can't ignore that WA has had a terrible first half of the year when it comes to road fatalities.

"And we want our community to have better outcomes when it comes to road safety."