Road toll: Tributes flow for South Coast teen killed during horror weekend on NSW roads

THE death of a 15-year-old boy, one of five to die in a horror 24 hours on NSW roads, has “broken a lot of hearts” in the southern coastal town of Batemans Bay.

Zeke Vidler, 15, died in Canberra Hospital on Saturday following a crash in Batemans Bay. Picture: Facebook

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NSW endured yet another horror weekend in a dreadful year on our roads with five lives lost, including a 15-year-old boy on the south coast.

Four people died in a 24-hour period from Friday to Saturday night, while a woman died in a collision on the Pacific Motorway, near the Queensland border, at Chinderah yesterday.

Zeke Vidler died in Canberra Hospital on Saturday night after being one of four teenagers in a car that veered off the road, flipped and smashed into a tree at Batemans Bay at 6.30pm on Friday.

Zeke was one of four teenagers in a car which crashed in Batemans Bay. He later died in hospital. Picture: Facebook

Zeke suffered critical injuries while sitting in the back seat of the Subaru Forester driven by a 17-year-old when it crashed. A second rear passenger, a 16-year-old girl, sustained minor injuries, while the front-seat passenger, a 14-year-old girl, was uninjured. Police said a relative of one of the teenagers rushed to the scene and drove them to Batemans Bay Hospital before paramedics arrived.

Zeke was transferred to Canberra Hospital where he died.

In the other fatal incidents at the weekend, two men were killed in a crash near Canberra involving a ute and four-wheel-drive on Saturday.

The men were the sole occupants of vehicles that collided on Sutton Rd at Sutton about 2.50pm.

In the third fatal crash, a motorcyclist died near Coffs Harbour.

The man, 21, was riding down Waterfall Way at Fernmount about 6.30pm on Saturday when he collided with car being driven by a man aged in his 20s. That driver was taken to hospital for mandatory blood and urine testing.

The road toll over the past 12 months before the weekend’s tragedies stood at 393, which is 79 more than at the same time last year.

For the 2016 calendar year, it is 246, 43 more than the same period last year.

Police have renewed appeals for drivers to slow down, wear seatbelts and pay attention on the roads.

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