A man is fighting for life after a road crash that has brought to a head community frustration over the use of unregistered trail bikes in public spaces.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 36-year-old man was airlifted to St George Hospital about midday Thursday, after he rode an unregistered bike off a curb on Waples Road, and into the path of a Toyota Hilux.
Damage to the ute’s passenger door showed where it connected side-on with the bike.
The rider was thrown and suffered a life-threatening head injury. The man’s helmet was in the gutter when the Mercury reached the crash site; it is not known whether it was fastened at time of impact.
He remained at the hospital in a critical condition, late Thursday.
Meantime, police have nominated the area as one of two “hotspots” – along with Port Kembla – for unregistered bike activity.
Lake Illawarra Police District’s chief inspector Paul Allman said police were being alerted to illegal riders at Unanderra – including in parks and on footpaths – on a daily basis.
“We’re receiving information from the public to suggest the behavior of these riders is extremely dangerous,” he said.
“The difficulty is, these riders don’t stop when they ask them to. They place members of the public in extreme danger with their riding behaviour.”
A 24-year-old woman who was travelling as a passenger in the Hilux suffered minor injuries. The driver, a 35-year-old man, was physically unharmed.
Police have been told the trail bike was being ridden around a nearby sports field prior to the crash.
Investigating police are calling on any witnesses or anyone with dash-cam footage to come forward.
Many readers have condemned the unregistered riders, in comments to the Mercury’s Facebook page.
“We have reported [them] numerous times for riding through the school zones at high speed and almost hitting cars and kids,” wrote one reader, Stacey Pell. “It was only a matter of time before this happened. Hopefully a lesson learned for the other idiots that get on their unregistered bikes and put themselves and other people in danger.”
Meantime, a woman claiming to be the injured man’s mother has called on commentators to be mindful of her family’s suffering.
“This is my son yous are talking about,” she wrote. “If anybody on here who thinks they’re perfect … you have not walked [in] my son’s shoes.”
She said the man’s bike “was only just built - he was testing it” and added “all my concern [is] that my son stays alive. This bulls--- of [registered] or not – really, all grow up”.