Police allege a 17-year-old boy was driving an off-road electric motorbike recklessly and dangerously before he hit and killed a pedestrian in Edgewater on Saturday afternoon.
The teenager now faces several charges and was due to appear in Perth Children’s Court on Sunday over the death of the 59-year-old woman near Edgewater Drive.
Major crash Detective Sergeant Ollie Edwards described the crash as a “tragic incident”.
“Another innocent life has been lost through the reckless, dangerous acts of another person,” he said.
The police air wing was conducting a patrol about 2.30pm on Saturday when the teenager was allegedly spotted driving “erratically” around Woodvale.
Police allege the bike was later involved in a crash with the 59-year-old pedestrian, who was taken to Joondalup Health Campus but later died.
WA Police major crash Detective Sergeant Ollie Edwards.Credit: 9News Perth
Detectives are still gathering information on the incident, including whether the woman was walking with a dog at the time of the crash.
Edwards said police were analysing the “high-powered” e-bike, but could not yet say if it had been modified.
Police at one point activated their lights and attempted to intercept the rider, but fell back when the teen evaded them.
The 17-year-old has been charged with manslaughter, no authority to drive, and using an unlicensed vehicle on a road.
Saturday’s crash is the latest in a spate of fatal e-rideable incidents in Perth over recent months.
Kevin Sanders, 31, died after his e-scooter and a truck collided in East Fremantle at the end of May.
Meanwhile, British backpacker Alicia Kemp, 24, is before the courts after allegedly crashing a hired e-scooter into Thanh Phan, 51, while riding drunk and recklessly through Perth’s CBD in early June.
Edwards urged people using e-rideables to take care, and said police had come across some devices that could reach speeds of up to 110km/h.
“That’s massively not consistent with the requirement of e-rideables, and nor is it safe to do so, or ... ride on a road,” he said.
“People riding e-rideables have got to exercise heightened caution when riding them, particularly the scooters with the smaller wheels.
“The speeds that some of these vehicles can go is not safe, and people need to exercise more caution when using them.”
Anyone with information about the crash is urged to call police or make a report via Crime Stoppers.
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