Ocean Grove’s Kylie De Costa hospitalised after motorbike accident

An Ocean Grove woman was left needing emergency surgery following an accident at a “terrible” intersection, with new data revealing every crash in the region over the last decade. SEE THE MAP.

A Bellarine motorcyclist says she may never get back on the bike after an accident at a “terrible” intersection in Ocean Grove left her unable to walk.

Kylie De Costa has spoken for the first time as new data reveals the amount of crashes on the region’s roads.

Ms De Costa was on her way to collect her wallet from a friend’s house before she came off her motorbike while riding along Wallington Rd on February 9.

Video from a nearby petrol station appears to show Ms De Costa being cut off by a grey car at the intersection, causing her to lose her balance and come off the motorbike.

Ms De Costa said the adrenaline from the crash caused her to get up and yell, before realising the seriousness of her injuries.

“I saw the vehicle hesitate to go, and I just thought, ‘I’ll just watch it’,” Ms De Costa said.

“So I was a bit more cautious going in, and then she just floored it.

“It happened so quick, I hard braked and it locked the wheel up and I went down pretty hard.”

Kylie De Costa wonders if she’ll ever ride her motorcycle again.

Good Samaritans helped Ms De Costa, with emergency services taking her to hospital for her injuries.

Ms De Costa was left with “huge” cuts down both sides of her leg, requiring emergency surgery on her calf, and further surgeries to clean the wound and remove muscle.

The ordeal has left her questioning whether she will ride a motorbike again.

“Considering I can’t even walk or drive my car at the moment because of this, I’m not sure,” she said.

“I don’t have any plans to sell it, and I hope I will get back on the bike.”

Ms De Costa said the intersection of Wallington Rd and Guthridge St, where the accident occurred, was “terrible at the best of times”.

“It’s a pretty bad intersection,” Ms De Costa said.

“Wallington Rd is quite busy, and so is Bell and Guthridge streets, so people kind of sometimes rush and go.”

Ms De Costa is not the only person to be involved in an accident along Wallington Rd in recent years.

Newly mapped data shows a collision occurred at the same intersection in April last year.

Along the entirety of the road there have been 14 accidents on Wallington Rd since 2014.

Exclusive analysis of all Geelong road incidents in the past 10 years — excluding fender benders and incidents that weren’t reported to authorities — showed more than 91 crashes have occurred on Thompson Rd, making it one of the regional city’s most dangerous roads.

Fourteen of the 91 crashes included cars hitting pedestrians walking along the busy street.

The Princes Highway, Midland Highway and the Bellarine Highway also recorded hundreds of crashes.

There were 5970 crashes recorded in the City of Greater Geelong, 70 per cent of which were two-car collisions.

A total of 472 pedestrians were struck by vehicles, including more than 50 in the Geelong CBD alone.

Originally published as Ocean Grove’s Kylie De Costa hospitalised after motorbike accident