Illawarra schoolboys avoid serious injury after ‘joy ride’ ends in crash
Police will speak to three school kids after their ‘joy ride’ went seriously wrong on the south coast.
Illawarra Star
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Three teenage schoolboys are lucky to have escaped major injuries, after a joy ride ended in a serious smash this afternoon.
Emergency services were called to West Wollongong’s Bukari St just before 1pm on Friday, following reports a vehicle had smashed into a fence and caught alight.
Witness Paul was working on his ute on Bukari Street, when he said he saw the car “fly around the corner”.
“They came around too quick and couldn’t straighten the car,” he said.
“They straightened up a bit and smashed into the back of the ute.”
The force of the smash forced the Holden Commodore across to the opposite side of the road and into a freshly-built retaining wall, narrowly missing an off-duty doctor working in his front yard.
“I was there sanding and I heard tyres screech around the corner,” Dr Roly Stokes said.
“He (the driver) shunted the ute down the street then (the car) was pointed at me, he wasn’t on the brakes and I actually thought he was going to hit me.”
Feeling quite lucky himself, Dr Stokes rushed to the aid of the driver, allegedly finding a 15-year-old boy at the wheel, and two other boys, believed to be 15 and 16, in the front and rear passenger seats still wearing their school uniforms.
While the driver was unharmed, the front passenger had to be cut from the vehicle by emergency services.
“He had a big cut on his arm and was bleeding,” Dr Stokes said.
“The other two were up and about and moving.”
After checking the boys were okay, Dr Stokes noticed the grass in front of the car had caught alight and worked quickly to extinguish the small fire.
The two passengers were taken to Wollongong Hospital for minor injuries, while the driver assisted police with their inquiries until his parents arrived.
Another witness at the scene claimed the young boy initially tried to flee the scene, fearing he was “going to get locked up”.
Police inquiries are continuing and anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage is urged to contact Wollongong Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The crash occurred just hours after police launched Operation Chrome in the Illawarra, targeting poor driving behaviour on rural roads, including speeding, drink and drug-driving, not wearing seatbelts, using a mobile phone behind the wheel and fatigue.
The operation, which will run today and tomorrow, will target people where they least expect it, according to Northern Region Commander, Assistant Commissioner Max Mitchell said.
“Operation Chrome is designed to not only target the main highways, but the back roads and suburban streets,” he said.
“Expect to see us in numbers this weekend. It won’t just be officers from the Traffic and Highway Patrol that will be tasked with keeping everyone safe on our roads.”