A P-plate driver has been charged over the death of a 33-year-old pregnant woman and her unborn child following an accident in Sydney’s north-west.

The woman was walking with her husband and three-year-old son when she was hit at the entrance to a car park in George St, Hornsby on Friday night.

Emergency services were called to scene shortly after 8pm on Friday, following reports that a silver Kia station wagon had hit a pedestrian after allegedly being rear-ended by a white BMW driven by a 19-year-old man on his P-plates.

Police will allege the driver of the station wagon had slowed down to allow the woman, who was eight months pregnant, to cross when the BMW crashed into the back of it, pushing the station wagon forward and hitting the woman.

The woman was crossing the footpath with her family, including a three-year-old boy, when she was struck by the car, Assistant Commissioner of the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, David Driver, said. The family was not injured.

She was treated by ambulance at the scene before being taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition. She and her unborn baby later died.

“Any serious crash is very confronting for first responders, and it’s particularly tragic when people pass away, and indeed when there are children involved,” Driver said.

“This is a terrible, terrible story.”

Both drivers of the station wagon and BMW were uninjured. They were taken to Hornsby Hospital for mandatory testing. There were no passengers in either car.

“The matter was under investigation, and the drivers involved were arrested for the purpose of mandatory testing. But when the [woman] succumbed to her injuries, police arrested the gentleman at his home address, and he was subsequently charged with those offences,” Driver said.

Police arrested the 19-year-old man at 12.45am on Saturday at his home in Wahroonga. He was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning death, and causing loss of a fetus.

He was refused bail and will appear in Parramatta Local Court on Sunday.

A crime scene has been established, and a police investigation is ongoing.

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