Latest news with #P-plate
7NEWS
08-08-2025
- 7NEWS
Unborn baby boy fighting for life after 38-week pregnant woman and partner hit by racing P-platers on the Gold Coast
A crumpled car carried some of the most precious passengers imaginable — a young couple about to become first-time parents. Casey King, 25, and her partner, Ryan, were heading home from a quiet night of board games when tragedy struck on the M1 at Bilinga on the Gold Coast on July 25. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today The back seat where Casey sat took the brunt of a high-speed crash caused by two P-plate drivers who police allege were racing at speeds of up to 180km/h. The car was so badly crushed that emergency crews had to remove the door entirely to free the mum to be, who was trapped for nearly an hour. 'It's just so unfair for a little baby,' said one of Casey's sisters, Alivia Nosti. 'I don't think the anger has set in (as) we are still in shock,' Casey's sister, Kayla Nosti, added. An 18-year-old driver crashed into the couple's car, while the other driver didn't stop. Casey, 38 weeks pregnant, was left trapped with a broken bone in her back. 'To turn up to the scene and see your friends in that state is horrific, and they were just frozen,' family friend Cassidy Hoare told 7NEWS. 'She's just like I need to be calm for bub, I just need to be calm.' Casey required an emergency cesarean, delivering her baby boy, Henry, who was born unresponsive and in critical condition. 'He suffered a serious brain injury,' Alivia said. 'Brain bleeds; a fractured skull. A broken clavicle. They're living in a nightmare they can't wake up from.' Ryan sustained minor injuries. 'While both of them are physically healing, the emotional toll is immense,' Alivia wrote in a fundraiser she set up for the young family. The couple had just installed Henry's car seat that day. They moved the front passenger seat forward to make room, so Casey sat in the backseat directly behind Ryan, where there was more space. Multiple witnesses told police the two P-plate drivers were racing, and police investigations continue. 'We have to get it right. We owe that to the victims,' Superintendent Peter Miles said. 'Those innocent people just driving about their own business had nothing to do with this, we owe it to them to get it right.' No charges have been laid, yet. GoFundMe page has been set up to help the young couple focus on Henry's recovery. 'We don't know his future,' said Kayla. 'So hope and health for Henry.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Warning over driver's licence loophole as police 'overwhelmed' by dashcam dobbing
Teenagers are exploiting a legal loophole by travelling interstate to obtain their driver's licence, a move police warn could lead to jail time, as authorities reveal they're being flooded with dashcam footage capturing dangerous driving. Provisional drivers are among the most crash-prone motorists on Australian roads, something the Victorian government says is a major factor in the decision not to allow young people to obtain a P-plate until they're 18 — the highest age in the country for new drivers. But it's now emerged that the state's youth are sneaking interstate, to places like New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland, where the minimum age is 17, to bypass regulations and obtain a licence early. Anecdotal evidence indicates teenagers are using addresses of holiday homes or extended family members in other states to secure their permits. Victoria Police said it hasn't seen direct evidence of the behaviour despite reports in the Herald Sun about private school students bragging about doing so and parents expressing concerns. It's prompted police to warn that fraudulently obtaining a licence, including by providing misleading information, can be a criminal offence. "It goes to the sense of entitlement that we see play out," Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir told media this week. "Just because you've got a holiday house in Noosa doesn't mean you can skip the rules." It is believed no charges have yet been laid against under-age drivers obtaining their licences interstate. Under Victorian road rules, failing to transfer an interstate licence within six months of becoming a resident is considered unlicensed driving. Offenders can face fines of up to $11,855 and even prison time if prosecuted. A driving instructor of 25 years said he'd heard about numerous instances of teens cheating the system. "They just tell me, look, I'm going to get my licence interstate ... what can I say?" Ollie Azriel told 9News. "They have the support of their parents because they're still 17 and just want to get their licence." While the Nationals have pushed for the state to lower the probationary driving age in Victoria, a 2016 inquiry found doing so could lead to significantly more road deaths and injuries, a worsening problem in Australia as it stands. Every Aussie driver targeted in push to combat $30 billion crisis Older drivers 'exposed' on Aussie roads after major shift Aussie drivers accused of 'selfish' road act amid widespread trend Concerningly, 2024 was crowned the deadliest year on Australian roads in more than a decade, prompting safety experts to urge governments to take stronger action and to call on the public to rethink their attitudes towards road safety. In Victoria the road toll for the year through to May 21, 2025 stood at 118, up 8.3 per cent from the same period last year. Six of the 118 lives lost were people aged between 18 and 20. The financial toll of road trauma has surged to $30 billion annually — a figure expected to continue rising. While authorities in Victoria warn young drivers that licences obtained fraudulently may be cancelled, Crime Stoppers has also revealed a huge surge in dashcam footage being handed in, showing shocking accounts of dangerous driving. One in three reports received by Victoria Crime Stoppers relates to "high-risk" road use, CEO Stella Smith said on Wednesday. She warned that 30 per cent of fatal collisions are caused by speed, with young people remaining overrepresented in road trauma. In Victoria, the minimum age to obtain a learner permit (Ls) is 16 years, while the minimum age to obtain a probationary licence (P1) is 18 years. Peter Frazer OAM, whose daughter was killed by a distracted driver on the Hume Freeway in NSW, told Yahoo News Australia last week a cultural shift on the roads is more critical than ever. He said Australia urgently needs to rethink not only driver behaviour, but also its approach to enforcement, speeding and accountability. "The very first thing that we need to do is to flip everything on its head and start dealing with the reality of risk on our roads," he said. "We've got to have our governments start doing much more active enforcement — police enforcement and also automated enforcement." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
