SA Police has published a video of a teenager on an electric motorcycle doing a wheelie and then crashing into a car while police and paramedics were attending another collision at the same location in Adelaide’s southern suburbs.
Body-worn camera footage shows a police officer talking to another person when a motorcycle, riding on only its back wheel, zooms past.
The electric dirt bike can then be seen crashing into a car while the 16-year-old rider has been flung about 20 metres away.
Police say the Reynella boy did not suffer serious injuries.
They say they were attending a minor crash out the front of the Southgate Plaza shopping centre on Hillier Road in Morphett Vale last Friday, June 26, when the incident occurred.
Vision shows the electric motorcycle rider doing a wheelie past police attending another crash. (Supplied: SA Police)
Officer in charge of the Traffic Services Branch, Superintendent Shane Johnson, said it was lucky no-one else was injured in the crash, although the driver of the car that the motorcycle hit was “visibly shaken, upset and in shock, and also had to deal with significant damage to their vehicle”.
“This kind of reckless, irresponsible, and incredibly dangerous riding is disgraceful and shows the consequences of such unacceptable behaviour,” he said.
“While this rider is incredibly lucky, if you choose to take risks like this on the road then your luck will run out.
“People who choose to behave with such abandon on our roads are why crashes happen, including deaths.
“People riding these types of illegal e-bikes or e-motorbikes need to realise the risks involved and know that they are one of the most vulnerable road users who have little to no protection.”Concern about dangerous riding
Electric dirt bikes are generally only allowed to operate on private property in South Australia.
Private e-scooters and other electronic mobility devices have been allowed on public roads and footpaths for a year.
The state government is reviewing the rules around them and e-bikes after concerns about unsafe riding, particularly among children.
The rider was reported for speeding past an emergency vehicle, riding in a manner dangerous, riding an unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle and driving while unlicensed.
His e-motorbike was impounded.
He will be summonsed to appear in the Adelaide Youth Court at a later date.
Superintendent Shane Johnson called for vulnerable road users to keep themselves safe. (ABC News: Isabella Carbone)
Superintendent Johnson said 25 of the 58 lives lost on South Australian roads so far this year were vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians.
“That is extraordinarily high,” he said.
“Police can only do so much and we will continue to enforce and to educate all road users.
“We will be vigilant with our drive and we will continue to do this, however, at some point all road users need to take some accountability for their own safety and for the safety of all other road users, and stop taking risks on our roads.
“Don’t think it won’t happen to you.”
Most recently, a 17-year-old cyclist died after being hit by a car on Saturday south of Mount Gambier and a pedestrian was killed in nearby Eight Mile Creek on Monday.