Caitlyn Bragger, 15, was killed in a crash that injured five other teens travelling in a 4WD when it rolled south of Perth
Caitlyn Bragger, 15, was a passenger in a Toyota Landcruiser carrying five other teenagers when it rolled off Scarp Rd in Hoffman, 150km south of Perth, about 8pm on Saturday.
Volunteer firefighters freed one of the passengers who was trapped in the wreckage.
The 16-year old male driver and a 17-year-old male passenger were seriously injured in the crash and were rushed to Bunbury Hospital.
Three other passengers were treated for minor injuries.
The group had been camping nearby when the crash occurred with witnesses saying the car had been crushed like a tin can.
'It was scary to see,' one man said.
Family friend Mekayla Cowcher paid tribute to the 15-year-old girl 'gone way too soon' and setup a fundraiser to help the family with funeral costs.
She said Caitlyn's family were left broken, lost and confused.
'(Caitlyn was) known for her kindness, unique sense of humour, and devotion to her family and friends,' she said.
'She bought a ray of sunshine everywhere she went, so outgoing and never left a dull moment in life.
' No one ever expects something like this to happen, you can't prepare yourself.
'We never expected to say goodbye to her beautiful soul so soon.
'Forever 15, forever in our memory and hearts. Our Angel In Heaven.'
WA's road toll has reached 87 lives, the highest number of deaths in more than a decade.
Premier Roger Cook told media it was an unacceptable figure that could be prevented it people did everything they could to keep themselves and others safe on the road.
The premier said they were looking at what was working in other states and overseas and what technology was available to keep roads safer.
'That's why we've got our deep dive into our road safety measures at the moment, reviewing what else we can do as a government,' he said.
Shadow Road Safety Minister Julie Freeman said it was a heartbreaking and unacceptable milestone.
'Regional road deaths continue to make up a disproportionate share of the toll,' she said.
'These are our communities. We're on the ground, we're working with regional organisations, and we need to be part
of finding solutions.
'We need a coordinated, bipartisan effort to turn this around, because too many lives depend on it.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

ABC News
26 minutes ago
- ABC News
Police showed 'no sense of urgency' in search for missing First Nations man, family says
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family. When Ginny Jones's brother Jai Gray disappeared, she and her family did everything to find him. They reported him missing, posted on social media, and handed out flyers. But she says despite Jai being a vulnerable person, there wasn't a sense of urgency from authorities, forcing them to conduct their own enquiries and searches. "I feel like I've watched enough 'Law And Order' to know ... more things should be happening," Ginny told the ABC. Jai would visit his dad every week for a bacon and egg toastie and to mow the lawn — but one day in May 2024, he never showed up. According to Ginny, it was "very out of character" for the 25-year-old First Nations man, who lived with disabilities and was "a bit naive" and "very trusting". Days after reporting his disappearance, his sister says there had been no missing person alert issued on social media or to the media, and police had still not attempted a welfare check at the home. "The lack of urgency from everyone else was really alarming." The family started their own social media campaign to find Jai, who disappeared from his home in Morayfield, north of Brisbane. The messages began to flood in. But receiving dozens of false leads was overwhelming for the family in their darkest hour. Jai's body was found last June in an abandoned quarry in the Glass House Mountains on the Sunshine Coast. Police did not invite the family to a press conference where they announced Jai's death was being treated as a suspected murder. The family showed up anyway, and police acknowledged they'd provided crucial information that helped progress the investigation. In response to questions from the ABC, a QPS spokesperson said "as is routine with any missing person investigation, detectives run several lines of enquiry before requiring and requesting a media release". "In this instance, during the initial enquiries, the missing person investigation evolved into a homicide investigation. Therefore, a missing person release was not required." Police did not respond to questions about why a welfare check was not conducted sooner. The QPS spokesperson said: "As the matter continues to be before the court, no further comment can be provided at this time." Since her brother's disappearance, Ginny has spotted patterns in other First Nations missing person cases. It's inspired her to co-found The Disappeared Project. Launched during National Missing Persons Week, the Indigenous-led missing persons organisation will help families in similar situations and collect data and research. "Jai was missing for 10 days, and it was the worst 10 days of my life," Ginny said. The organisation uses the term "disappeared" instead of "missing" — language they say is passive and denies the existence of potential perpetrators. The expert team includes Yuin human rights lawyer Martin Hodgson and Dr Amy McQuire, a Darumbal and South Sea Islander researcher. It also partners with Professor Jodie Ward, a DNA expert who runs Australia's first independent forensics lab. Mr Hodgson says when an Aboriginal person goes missing, "the police response is marked by delay, indifference or outright negligence". "That's a stark contrast to the urgency and resources typically mobilised for non-Indigenous people," Mr Hodgson told the ABC. "The result is that lives are needlessly lost, justice is never served, and already traumatised Aboriginal families are left with no answers, only heartbreak." Dr McQuire has sat through countless coronial inquests and says First Nations people are disappearing and being murdered at disproportionate rates across Australia. First Nations women are being murdered at up to 12 times the national average. Four Corners revealed in 2022 at least 315 First Nations women have either gone missing or been murdered or killed in suspicious circumstances since 2000. Dr McQuire believes there are even more cases that we don't know about. She says when First Nations people go missing, police often use mugshots of their time in custody, making them seem like "wanted persons" instead of victims. "Aboriginal people are criminalised first and never really seen as victims or missing persons," she said. Dr McQuire says it's not just police failing Indigenous people who are disappeared. "When a First Nations person goes missing, I'm yet to see the groundswell of concern in the media. "I think this issue is uniquely tied to Australia's history and our refusal to grapple with the fact that the disappearing, killing, the massacre of Aboriginal people and nations is actually endemic and core to how this colony thrives and functions." Ginny says if it wasn't for her family and community pushing for action, her brother may still be missing. "I have no doubt in my mind that if we hadn't acted and put pressure on the police, this would've been another 'walkabout story' that we may never know the outcome of."

News.com.au
7 hours ago
- News.com.au
Productivity Commission calls for changes to road user charges to fund road upgrades
The federal body tasked with boosting Australian living standards has reissued calls for a national road user charge to help fund major infrastructure projects, which would also force drivers of electric vehicles to contribute to road maintenance. As it stands, EV drivers are not subject to the 51.6 cents per litre fuel excise drivers ultimately pay when refuelling at the bowser. The call to arms was detailed in the Productivity Commission's (PC) analysis of the National Competition Policy – the fourth of five reports handed to Jim Chalmers ahead of the Economic Reform Roundtable later this month. This follows long-term calls by the PC to enact a road user charges on all vehicle types, with a current charge only applied to heavy vehicles through a diesel excise. 'Road infrastructure should be funded through user charges (prices) that reflect the efficient cost of providing and maintaining that infrastructure,' the report said. 'By giving drivers a clear signal about the cost of infrastructure, they would have an incentive to use it more efficiently. 'Moreover, there will be a signal to infrastructure providers where changes in road capacity are warranted.' It said national reform should be prioritised following the High Court challenge which overruled the Victorian government's attempt to put in place a 2 cents a kilometre on EV drivers in 2023. The PC also noted that the 'growth in use of electric vehicles' should be 'added impetus' for priority reform, with the commission set to give its final report to the Treasurer in late October. 'The decision of the High Court rules out state-based distance road user charges and means governments need to consider a national approach to road funding,' it said. 'This opens the opportunity to design a system that is less fragmented and better reflects the costs of providing and using road infrastructure.' In an earlier report released this week, the PC urged Labor to scrap subsidies on EVs, like the fringe benefits tax exemption on electric cars and plug-in hybrids. Instead, it said the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard should be the 'main tool for promoting clean vehicles'. Previously Mr Chalmers has said the government has no immediate plans to tax EV users, however he said discussions with the sector and states had been ongoing. 'Over time, the use of fossil fuels in our car fleets will come down, and EV use will go up,' he told reporters in July. 'We've seen that, and we're making a contribution to that with our policies and that will have implications for the tax base.' However, despite lags at a federal level, the NSW state government has flagged a distance-based charge for eligible EVs set to come into place from July 1, 2027, or when EVs make up 30 per cent of all new vehicle sales. The PC's analysis of competition policy also found regulating Australian standards with overseas standards could boost GDP by up to 0.2 per cent a year – a nominal increase between $1.9bn to $3.8bn. Occupational licensing reform, which would make it easier for workers to move interstate, was noted as a competition-boosting change which would result in the biggest affect on the economy, which could deliver between a $5bn to $10bn boost to GDP. This comes after the government flagged changes to design a national scheme for people in electrical trades in the March federal budget.

Daily Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Kathleen Folbigg to get payout after wrongly convicted of killing children
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News. NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley has decided to make an ex-gratia payment of $2 million to Kathleen Folbigg who was locked up for 20 years after being wrongly convicted of killing her children. The decision follows 'thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg's application and provided by her legal representatives', a spokeswoman for Mr Daley said. 'The decision has been communicated to Ms Folbigg via her legal representatives,' the statement continued. 'At Ms Folbigg's request, the Attorney-General and Government have agreed to not publicly discuss the details of the decision. 'The Government will not make further comment on this matter.' Ms Folbigg was 35 years old when she was locked up in 2003, wrongly convicted of killing her four babies. Get all the latest Australian news as it happens — download the app direct to your phone. Kathleen Folbigg will receive $2 million from the NSW government after she spent 20 years in jail, wrongly convicted of killing her children. Picture: Supplied via NCA NewsWire The children — Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura — died between 1989 and 1999 at ages ranging from 19 days to 18 months. She was released from prison in June last year after receiving a pardon following an independent inquiry, which heard new scientific evidence that indicated her children may have died from natural causes or a genetic mutation. Ms Folbigg's solicitor, Rhanee Rego, has since issued a statement describing the $2 million payment as 'profoundly unfair and unjust'. Experts had predicted a payment to Ms Folbigg upwards of $10 million. 'The sum offered is a moral affront – woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible,' Ms Rego said. 'The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again. Kathleen lost her four children; she lost 20 of the best years of her life; and she continues to feel the lasting effects of this ongoing trauma. 'The payment does not reflect the extent of the pain and suffering Kathleen has endured. This should be about the system recognising the significance of what it did to her.' Ms Folbigg was acquitted in 2023 after spending 20 years in prison. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles Ms Rego said an inquiry was urgently needed to understand how the government decided on this figure. 'When Lindy Chamberlain was exonerated in 1994, she received $1.7 million for three years in prison. Kathleen Folbigg spent two decades in prison, yet for her wrongful imprisonment she has been offered $2 million,' she said. 'Kathleen Folbigg's fight should be over. After being failed at her conviction and abused in prison, she is now being treated with contempt by the very system that should be making amends.' Ms Folbigg and her daughter, Sarah. Patrick Folbigg died aged eight months in 1991. Caleb Folbigg was just 19 days old when he died. Greens MP and Justice Spokesperson Sue Higginson said the offer was 'shocking and insulting'. 'Two million dollars barely covers what Kathleen could have earned on a full-time salary over 20 years,' she said. 'Kathleen has not only lost 20 years of wages, she has lost her four children, her home and her employability. She has racked up legal costs fighting her wrongful conviction, she has lost her superannuation, and she has been the victim of one of the worst injustices in this state's history — wrongful imprisonment.' Kathleen Folbigg was found guilty of murdering her children in 2003. She was acquitted in 2023. Baby Laura Folbigg died in 1999. Ms Folbigg's solicitor, Rhanee Rego, described the government's $2 million payment as 'profoundly unfair and unjust'. Ms Higginson said ex-gratia payments were payments of grace and good will, 'but what the Minns Labor Government have done today is offered a disgraceful payment in bad faith, it is 'Go Away' money'. 'It's unfair and speaks of misogyny and failure to take responsibility for the state's infliction of a grave injustice,' she said. In recent times Ms Folbigg has described how while she might not be locked in a cell any more, she still carried the shackles of 20 years of incarceration. 'I'm always watching who's coming through the door, who's behind me. I won't say fear, it's not a fear, just a bit of trepidation,' she said during an exclusive interview in Newcastle, the place she calls home. 'And I wait for someone else to open doors. When you're inside, you don't open doors or you cop it from the guards. 'I hadn't opened a door for 20 years, so yeah, I even find myself hesitating at my own doors at home.' 'Then there is the anxiety that comes with meeting new people.'