Monkey bike crash kills man in Carrum Downs
Police have condemned the use of monkey bikes after a 26-year-old Carrum Downs man died when his unregistered bike crashed on Thursday night.
South East
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A man has died after crashing a monkey bike into a pole on Thursday night.
The 26-year-old Carrum Downs man was riding the unregistered monkey bike in Carrington Crescent when he crashed about 9.45pm.
He was flown to hospital in a critical condition with upper body injuries.
He has since died.
Inspector Bruce Kitchen said the safety of monkey bikes was a major concern for police in the area.
“It’s not the only area we have problems with these monkey bikes, what people don’t realise is they’re not built to be ridden on the roads and they’re a danger for the person and for the community,” he said.
“It’s a major issue, we get calls quite regularly in relation to youth, and the youth can range from 10-years-of age up to the mid-20s as you've seen last night.”
Ins Kitchen said people were riding through parks and residential streets on the bikes and causing “havoc” to members of the community, especially in relation to noise.
“We have had a few near misses, but last night was the first injury collision that has been reported to us for some time,” he said.
“They’re not built to be ridden on roads, they’re not registered, they’re not insured so they don’t have the appropriate manufacturer’s guidelines with it and they’re just not built for that.
“Quite often youth will not wear helmets, so that is another issue in itself.”
He said people riding the bikes was a concern for himself personally, Victoria Police and the local community.
“It’s what youth do at that particular age, but what I would say to parents whose children do have these motorbikes is if you’re going to give them these motorbikes you have to ensure you educate them about it and take them to places where they can ride them safely … off road,” Ins Kitchen said.
Ins Kitchen said it was the worst incident they’d seen for quite some time.
“The risk is they are going down a residential street and mum and dad might be walking their dog or pushing bubs in the pram and these motorbikes come roaring past them, it can cause a number of issues,” he said.
“It can startle the dog that they’re walking and all of a sudden we’ve got an incident on our hands where the community is just going about their business.”
Legislation came in on January 1, 2017, that gave police power to seize and impound monkey bikes if used on a road or a road-related area, and to destroy the bikes if they’re not claimed.
In 2017 Caleb Jakobsson was jailed for seven years for killing Andrea Lehane in September 2015 as she used the crossing at the Carrum Downs shopping centre in Melbourne’s southeast.
He was speeding on the homemade mini-motorcycle with no rear brake when he struck Mrs Lehane, 34.
He left the scene without rendering assistance, leaving other shoppers to desperately try and save Mrs Lehane, who later died of massive head injuries.
Ins Kitchen said after the tragedy incidents had quietened down, however recently they were starting to receive more calls.
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“We will be out there in force in the near future we will be doing some education and having police visibility and we will work on having special solo people out there to apprehend these people that are riding the motorbikes,” he said.
“There are massive penalties for them, there is a $1000 bylaw alone, there are a number of penalties in relation to insurance, so fines can be $2000-$3000 in total.”
Victoria Police receives about 5000 calls annually about the miniature motorcycles.
Investigators would like to hear from anyone who may have seen the man on the motorcycle in the area to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au