Police search for driver involved in hit-and-run

ABC NEWS (Australia)

New South Wales police are searching for a driver involved in a fatal hit-and-run near Newcastle yesterday. It comes as new data shows the national road death toll has hit a fifteen-year high.

Transcript

00:00New South Wales Police were called to Lambton, a suburb of Newcastle, at about 3am on Sunday

00:08morning following reports of a head-on collision between a Holden Commodore and a Hyundai sedan.

00:14Police say the Holden Commodore had previously been cited by units earlier in the evening

00:20for driving with unregistered licence plates. Police say they had initiated a pursuit earlier

00:25in the evening but had to cancel it due to safety concerns.

00:29Now we know the 55-year-old passenger of the Hyundai sedan tragically died at the scene.

00:35A 28-year-old woman who police believe to be the driver of the Hyundai, she's been taken

00:40to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle in a serious condition.

00:44We understand tragically she was 25 weeks pregnant at the time of the crash and has lost her unborn

00:51child.

00:52In regards to the Holden Commodore, police say a 15 and a 17-year-old girl who they believe

00:58were backseat passengers of the vehicle. They're currently under police guard in a serious

01:02condition in John Hunter Hospital.

01:04Now in regards to the driver and front seat passenger of the vehicle who police allege fled

01:11the scene shortly after. Police say they're currently inquiring onto the whereabouts of a 19-year-old

01:17man and a 17-year-old woman and those inquiries are still ongoing. But these numbers speak to a much

01:24larger national toll. It's the highest toll on Australian roads since 2010. Roughly 1400 people have died

01:34across Australia this year. That's a 5% increase on the year before and more concerningly a 21% increase

01:42since Australia introduced its national road strategy in 2021.

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