Teen dies in e-scooter crash at Mareeba, Queensland
A young man has died after falling from an electric scooter in regional Queensland.
The crash tragic accident happened in the town of Mareeba, near Cairns, on Tuesday night.
A police spokeswoman told NewsWire, as of late Wednesday morning, the deceased male was yet to be identified.
Emergency services were called to Strattmann Street in Mareeba about 10.45pm.
Mareeba is about 60km west of Cairns.
The male suffered critical head injuries and died at the scene.
The spokeswoman said the police believe there were no other vehicles involved in the crash.
The forensic crash unit is investigating.
The tragic incident is the latest electric scooter crash to rock the country and follows the release of a report last week from doctors and researchers in Queensland highlighting the 'significant risk' to children from e-scooters.
The report, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, analysed 176 child e-scooter injury cases that presented to Sunshine Coast University Hospital between January 2023 and December 2024.
The research found 71 per cent of cases were male, falls accounted for 78 per cent of crashes, while 13 per cent involved motor vehicles.
Helmet noncompliance was documented in 42 per cent of the presentations, 12 per cent involved doubling, and 36 per cent exceeded the 25km/h speed limit.
Further, fractures occurred in 37 per cent of cases, 18 per cent required computerised tomography scans and 11 per cent sustained life-threatening or potentially life-threatening injuries.
Queensland has suffered a spate of e-scooter deaths and the Queensland government is looking to significantly tighten rules.
Earlier this month, an 18-year-old male died after crashing his e-scooter on the Flinders Highway in Townsville.
That crash was also a single-vehicle incident.
Eight people died in e-scooter and e-bike crashes in Queensland in 2024.
Queensland and the ACT are the only jurisdictions that allow under-16s to ride e-scooters.
Queensland laws say anyone aged five to 15 must be supervised by an adult.
The City of Perth has indefinitely banned the hiring of e-scooters, after the death of a 51 year-old pedestrian last month.
A British working holiday-maker allegedly struck the man, and has been charged with death by dangerous driving while under the influence.
Last month, the Queensland government announced a parliamentary inquiry into e-mobility safety.
Originally published as Teen dies in e-scooter crash at Mareeba, far north Queensland
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Reynolds' fresh target in Higgins lawsuit
Linda Reynolds has turned her attention to former Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus in her bid to sue the Commonwealth over its compensation payment to Brittany Higgins, as the nation's anti-corruption agency revealed there was 'no corruption issue' in the payment. The retiring former Liberal minister in May launched action in the Federal Court against the Commonwealth, with the crux of the claim over the $2.4m compensation payment to Brittany Higgins in 2022. Senator Reynolds argued the payment was 'publicly affirming' of Ms Higgins allegations against her that she didn't support her former staffer when she alleged she was raped by Bruce Lehrmann. Brittany Higgins was paid a $2.4m compensation payment. NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia The Federal Court has found Mr Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins on the civil standard of the balance of probabilities. A criminal trial was aborted due juror misconduct and a charge against him was dropped. Mr Lehrmann has always denied the allegation and is appealing the Federal Court's finding. An amended version of Ms Reynolds statement of claim was filed on Wednesday, just a day before the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) said there was 'no corruption issue' in the $2.4m payment. The NACC on Thursday announced there was 'no evidence that the settlement process, including the legal advice provided, who was present at the mediation, or the amount was subject to any improper influence by any Commonwealth public official'. Senator Reynolds' amended statement of claim was made public late on Thursday afternoon. Linda Reynolds has amended her statement of claim. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Among the changes is a reference to a speech by Mr Dreyfus the then Attorney-General made to parliament on March 15, 2021. Mr Dreyfus is not a party to the claim. Mr Dreyfus recounted to the House of Representatives a speech by Ms Higgins just outside Parliament House, where she told a large crowd she was raped inside the building by a colleague, and how her story was 'a painful reminder to women that it can happen in Parliament House and can truly happen anywhere'. 'If a woman cannot feel safe from rape in Parliament House, a veritable fortress ringed with security cameras, with entrances protected by armed guards and with Federal Police officers on duty inside, where can women feel safe?' Mr Dreyfus told the House of Representatives, according to a transcript excerpt in the claim. 'How strong is the rule of law if it isn't able to protect a young woman working in the ministerial wing of Parliament House?' The amended statement of claim argued Senator Reynolds had suffered loss and damage as a result of Mr Dreyfus' conduct, including denying her the opportunity to rebut Ms Higgins' allegation 'in the appropriate forum'. Former attorney-general Mark Dreyfus. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia It also argues Mr Dreyfus 'enabled and encouraged the falsity of Ms Higgins' claim to be maintained by Ms Higgins'. HWL Ebsworth, which acted on the Commonwealth's behalf, is also being sued by Senator Reynolds for negligence. Lawyers on behalf of Senator Reynolds argued HWLE breached its fiduciary duty to her by excluding her from the mediation conference where the $2.4m settlement was reached, and failing to conduct independent investigations to establish if there was 'at least a meaningful prospect of liability' by Ms Higgins. However, similar alleged breaches initially put forth against the Commonwealth were withdrawn in the amended document, with it now largely focusing on allegations of Mr Dreyfus' misfeasance of public office and alleged breaches of HWLE. Mr Dreyfus has been contacted for comment. He earlier welcomed NACC's statement. 'The NACC has conclusively found there was no improper interference by any Commonwealth official at any stage,' Mr Dreyfus said. 'I regret the baseless allegation of corruption has been so widely publicised ahead of this finding and hope future matters can be resolved in a more timely manner. 'I also regret any further distress caused to Ms Higgins as a result of this matter.'
7NEWS
5 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Hundreds riot over multiple nights on streets of Ballymena in Northern Ireland: ‘Racist thuggery'
Violence has erupted in different parts of Northern Ireland for a third successive night, with masked youths starting a fire in a leisure centre. However, unrest in the primary flashpoint of Ballymena was notably smaller in scale. Hundreds of masked rioters attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in Ballymena — a town of 30,000 people located 45km from Belfast — on Tuesday night in what police condemned as 'racist thuggery'. The violence flared on Monday after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court earlier that day, accused of a serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in the town. The charges were read via a Romanian interpreter to the boys, whose lawyer told the court that they denied the charge, the BBC reported. Police are investigating the damaging of properties on Monday and Tuesday in Ballymena, which has a relatively large migrant population, as racially motivated hate crimes. Two Filipino families told Reuters they fled their home in Ballymena on Tuesday night after fearing for their safety when their car was set on fire outside the house. A few dozen masked youths threw some rocks, fireworks and petrol bombs at police after officers in riot gear and armoured vans blocked roads in the town on Wednesday evening. Police deployed water cannon against the crowd for the second successive night, but the clashes were nothing like the previous night that left 17 officers injured and led to five arrests. Much of the crowd had left the streets before midnight. A small number of riot police were also in the town of Larne 30km west, where masked youths smashed the windows of a leisure centre before starting fires in the lobby, BBC footage showed. Swimming classes were taking place when bricks were thrown through the windows and staff had to barricade themselves in before running out the back door, local Alliance Party MP Danny Donnelly told the BBC. Northern Ireland's Communities Minister Gordon Lyons had earlier posted on Facebook that a number of people had been temporarily moved to the leisure centre following the disturbances in Ballymena, before then being moved out of Larne. The comments drew sharp criticism from other political parties for identifying a location used to shelter families seeking refuge from anti-immigrant violence. Lyons condemned the attacks on the centre. Police said youths also set fires at a roundabout in the town of Newtownabbey, a flashpoint for sectarian violence that sporadically flares up in the British-run region 27 years after a peace deal largely ended three decades of bloodshed. Debris was also set alight at a barricade in Coleraine, the Belfast Telegraph reported. The British and Irish governments as well as local politicians have condemned the violence.
Perth Now
6 hours ago
- Perth Now
Twist in case of ‘innocent' woman's death
Police are hoping a nickname or alias given by an anonymous caller will be the key to arresting the men who firebombed the wrong Melbourne house, killing a woman inside. Katie Tangey, 27, died inside a family member's house in Truganina in the city's west in January. Police believe two men, filmed at the scene, targeted the wrong address but were motivated by Melbourne's ongoing illicit tobacco wars. On Thursday, police searched a house in the southeast suburb of Dandenong, did not make any arrests, but seized phones. 'We are absolutely determined to provide what closure and justice we can to the family of Katie Tangey,' arson squad Detective Inspector Chris Murray said. Police say a slim man, aged 25 to 30, of Middle Eastern appearance and wearing an orange hoodie, was involved in the attack. Victoria Police Credit: NewsWire Police were 'getting closer' to solving the case, Inspector Murray said. 'I know Katie's family would want nothing more than to see her live out the whole life she had ahead of her, but the least we can do is make sure those responsible for this tragedy are held accountable for their actions. 'Investigators know Katie Tangey was completely innocent and had nothing to do with the illicit tobacco trade.' In April, police set up a booth in the Truganina street where Ms Tangey died in the hope of gathering information from the public. A digital composite of one of the arsonists' faces was then also released. Detective Inspector Chris Murray described Katie Tangey as 'completely innocent' and the arsonists as 'low lives'. NewsWire / Nadir Kinani Credit: News Corp Australia 'Via anonymous reports to Crime Stoppers, police were provided information, including a particular call where a name has been given of a pseudonym or nickname,' police say in Thursday's statement. 'Investigators are still urging this particular caller to make further contact and provide additional information.' Ms Tangey was house sitting her brother's home on Dover St on January 16 when two men attacked the property in the early hours with a jerry can. The men were filmed leaving the scene in a dark-coloured BMW X3 or X5. Ms Tangey called triple-0 from inside the three-storey home. She could not escape and died at the scene. A golden retriever named Sunny also died. In the hours after the incident, Inspector Murray was adamant Ms Tangey was the victim of a bungled attack, where the men targeted the wrong home. Appealing for information in April, Inspector Murray called the arsonists 'low lives'. 'There are people out there who are talking and who are providing information,' he said at the time.
