A teenage boy has suffered a serious leg injury after his Kawasaki trail bike was involved in a hit-and-run crash with a Toyota Camry in western Sydney yesterday.
NSW Police are now appealing for the public’s help to find the driver.
The crash happened about 7.20pm yesterday (20 April 2020) in Maud Street, Fairfield West.
Police have been told the 15-year-old teenage boy was riding a Kawasaki trail bike south along Maud Street and a gold Toyota Camry was travelling north when they collided at the intersection of Percy Street.
The driver stopped and spoke to a resident in Percy Street but then drove off.
NSW Ambulance paramedics attended and took the boy to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, where he remains in a serious but stable condition with a serious leg injury.
Officers from the Metropolitan Crash Investigation Unit are appealing for anyone with information about the vehicle which is described as an early 2000 model gold-coloured Toyota Camry sedan, or driver to contact the Metropolitan Crash Investigation Unit or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Police are also appealing for anyone with dashcam or CCTV footage of the incident to come forward.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.
Our sincere best wishes to the teenage boy for a full and speedy recovery.
Hit and run crashes
The driver faces a fine of up to $3300 and 18 months’ jail for leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury.
If the driver is proven to have “shown callous disregard for the needs of an injured person”, a jail sentence is mandatory.
It seems riders are particularly vulnerable to hit-run incidents.
We have tried to gather statistics before for the proportion of hit-run incidents that involve motorcyclists without success as relevant departments don’t keep those figures.
However, we suspect riders figure in a higher proportion of hit-runs than they represent as a percentage of traffic on the road.
Reasons for this could be: drivers are unaware they have hit a rider; they think they can get away with it because an injured rider can’t pursue them; or they simply don’t care.