19yo dies after car with teens crashes into fence on northern beaches
A 19-year-old youth has died of head injuries after a car carrying six teenagers smashed through a fence in Sydney’s north overnight.
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Police are trying to piece together the final harrowing seconds of a 19-year-old’s life that ended when a car carrying six teens smashed into an iron fence in Sydney’s north.
The boy was one of six passengers in the Holden Commodore that came off a road notorious among locals as a “race track” at 11:20pm on Saturday.
Emergency crews were called to the scene where they found the 19-year-old driver and his four 16-year-old passengers trying to save their friend.
They’d pulled him from the ruined car that appears to have hit the gutter and careened into the wrought iron and sandstone fence.
The Daily Telegraph understands that the car carrying the teens crashed outside the home of its female passenger.
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Paramedics and police began CPR but the boy, who had suffered critical head injuries, died at the scene.
The trail of destruction — broken glass, shattered stone and twisted metal — stretched almost 20 metres down the street.
But the trail of broken lives will be even longer.
“Everyone in this incidence, the people in the vehicle and their families, are all quite traumatised by this ,” Superintendent Pat Sharkey told reporters on Sunday.
“All six occupants in the vehicle are northern beaches locals.”
As he spoke a group of boys arrived at the scene to place flowers.
“Rest easy Barney, gone way too soon,” the accompanying card reads.
“So many fond memories with you. Love you always.”
The commander said incidents like this were “always confronting” for police who were now being formally debriefed.
The car’s occupants were taken from the crash site for drug and alcohol testing at a nearby hospital but lab results have yet to be returned.
They were all discharged and none are under arrest.
But as they reeled from the tragedy the Crash Investigation Unit stepped in to take control of the case.
They’ll be working to figure out exactly what went wrong and, on Sunday, remained at the scene taking photos of the carnage.
“They’ll specifically focus on speed, manner of driving, whether alcohol played a factor or not,” Supt Sharkey said.
Supt Sharkey could not comment on whether the driver or other occcupants might face criminal charges - that decision will remain with the crash unit investigators.
One local told The Daily Telegraph the winding road, in an affluent, semi-rural neighbourhood, was “known to be a bit of a racetrack”.
He said people often drive quickly through the area and skid marks along the road appear to confirm as much.