An 11-year-old boy has died after being hit while riding his push scooter in Mandurah, marking a tragic end to a string of fatalities across the Easter long weekend.
Emergency services responded to reports a scooter had collided with a blue Mazda station wagon on Mandurah Terrace near Stewart Street about 5.10pm on Monday.
The young scooter rider sustained critical injuries and was transported to Peel Health Campus where he later died.
The 46-year-old driver of the Mazda stopped at the scene and helped police with their investigation.
The incident was one of five deaths that occurred across the long-weekend period, from Thursday evening to Monday night.
On April 2, two deadly incidents occurred in the Perth Hills region just five minutes apart, while a third occurred later that night in Derby in the state’s north.
At about 4.25pm, a silver Ford F-150 utility vehicle collided with an off-road motorbike on Albany Highway, between Admiral and Narbethong roads in Bedfordale.
The motorbike rider was a 14-year-old boy who died at the scene, while the 19-year-old ute driver was not injured.
Only five minutes later and 20 kilometres north, a 30-year-old man crashed his Harley Davidson motorcycle while travelling south along Kingsbury Drive in Jarrahdale.
He also died at the scene.
Five hours later in Derby an 18-year-old woman died after the 4WD she was a passenger in with three other people, rolled.
At 9.45pm their white Nissan Patrol rolled on the mudflats alongside Rowan Street.
Two 17-year-old male passengers and the 19-year-old male driver escaped injury.
The driver helped police with their investigation.
Then just after midnight on Monday, emergency services attended a crash scene in Como just after midnight on Monday, after a red Ford Falcon sedan hit a tree.
The sedan was driving on Hayman Road when the driver lost control of the vehicle, left the road and crashed into a tree.
The 35-year-old male passenger was taken to Royal Perth Hospital with critical injuries, where he later died.
The 45-year-old male driver was also taken to RPH with serious injuries.
The latest fatalities bring the state’s road toll to 50 for the year.
Opposition road safety minister Julie Freeman said the Easter long-weekend was “marked by tragedy.”
“Every life lost on our roads is one too many, and behind every statistic is a devastated family
and a community changed forever,” Freeman said.
“Easter should be a time for reflection and connection. Instead, for too many Western
Australians, it has become a time marked by tragedy.”
Freeman said the growing number of motorcycle-related deaths and injuries is particularly concerning.
“Motorcyclists are among our most vulnerable road users, and we are seeing them increasingly
represented in serious crashes, especially on regional roads and in recreational settings,” she
said.
“The rise in trail bikes and e-motorbikes, particularly among younger riders, adds another layer
of risk that cannot be ignored.”
