Sex on trains, out-of-control trucks, idiotic drivers and foolhardy pedestrians.
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The Illawarra had it all in 2018.
As we prepare to ring in a new year, take a look back at some of the worst offences that happened on our region’s roads and rail this year.
1. Man pays price after ‘freebie’ sex on Port Kembla train
A randy Wollongong train traveller caught engaging in a “free” sex act with a fellow passenger now has a lasting legacy of their time together – a criminal conviction. More.
2. Hoon gets all the way from Gerringong to Sutherland in 37-minute police chase
A P-plater who led police on a dangerous, high-speed pursuit in an unregistered Holden Commodore was sentenced to a flat two years behind bars. “This is about as bad as it gets,” the magistrate said, in refusing to set a non-parole period. More.
3. Port Kembla driver refuses to take drug test after giving boyfriend oral sex
Officers claim the woman told them she didn’t know what drugs her boyfriend might be on, that she had recently performed oral sex on him and didn’t “want to get done for anything he has been taking”. More.
4. Quick-thinking dad saves baby from reckless Wollongong driver
CCTV footage captured the moment pedestrians, including a father pushing a pram, were forced to jump out of the path of a lunatic driver as he tore through red lights at two of Wollongong’s busiest intersections after refusing to stop for police. More.
5. Truckie mounts Wollongong footpath, crashes into pole to avoid cars
The truck was travelling east when it mounted the gutter outside Cartridge World and ended up wedged under the awning between the Thai restaurant and a traffic light pole on the corner of Crown Street and Denison Street/Gladstone Avenue. More.
6. Video footage shows just how close a boy came to being hit by a train at Dapto
In the video shot at the Bong Bong Road level crossing, two boys ride their scooters across the tracks just as the boomgates start to come down. About 10 seconds later, a third boy runs across with a train visible in the distance. More.
7. P-plater caught on video making idiotic U-turn on Mount Ousley
A U-turn on Mount Ousley Road is something few would even contemplate, let alone attempt. To pull off the idiotic move, the driver would first have to come to a complete halt in an 80km/h zone. Once stopped – holding up fast-moving traffic and risking being rear-ended into oncoming traffic – they would have to cross unbroken lines and merge with other cars travelling at 80km/h. But shocking footage captured the moment a P-plater does just that. More.
8. Parcels lost after Wollongong mail van stolen mid-delivery, set alight
A mail van was stolen mid-delivery from a residential street and torched in Wollongong’s southern suburbs. The white van, with about 100 items on board, was stolen as the driver delivered a parcel to the door of a Horsley home. More.
9. ‘Thought I would die’: Sophie caught out by Berkeley M1 wrong-way driver
A woman who became the victim of an elderly wrong-way driver on the M1 says she thought she would die in the collision. Sophie Kinnane, 24, was travelling 100km/h when a man believed aged 93 attempted a U-turn up ahead. She had little time to react before her car slammed into the side of the man’s red Mitshubishi Lancer. More.
10. Out-of-control truck ploughs through cars at Fairy Meadow McDonald’s
There are scenes of chaos at Fairy Meadow where an out-of-control truck ploughed through multiple cars and into a unit complex fence. The truck went through the McDonald’s car park colliding with at least three cars before pinning a fourth car up against the fence of the Northgate unit complex. More.
11. Truck gets stuck under Gwynneville bridge
The driver of an overheight truck that slammed into the University Avenue overpass, shutting the M1 Princes Motorway for 14 hours, was fined more than $3600 and stripped of six demerit points. The stuck truck closed the motorway in both directions and caused traffic chaos as detours were put in place. A salvage operation to remove the truck’s stuck trailer and cargo lasted late into the night More.
