source : the age
Three people, including a 14-year-old boy, have died in separate crashes in Western Australia on Thursday, marking a tragic start to the Easter long weekend.
Two deadly incidents occurred in the Perth Hills region just five minutes apart.
At about 4.25pm, a silver Ford F-150 utility vehicle collided with an off-road motorbike on Albany Highway, between Admiral and Narbethong roads in Bedfordale.
The rider, a 14-year-old boy, died at the scene.
The 19-year-old ute driver was not injured.
Five minutes later and 20 kilometres north, a 30-year-old man crashed his Harley Davidson motorcycle while travelling south along Kingsbury Drive in Jarrahdale.
He also died at the scene.
At 9.45pm an 18-year-old woman died after the white Nissan Patrol she was a passenger in rolled on the mudflats alongside Rowan Street in Derby.
The 4WD had four occupants at the time.
Two 17-year-old male passengers and the 19-year-old male driver escaped injury.
The driver is helping police with their investigation.
Anyone with dash-cam or vision relating to the Derby crash can upload it here, the Bedfordale crash here and Jarrahdale crash here.
The latest fatalities bring the state’s road toll to 48 for the year and come despite a week of intensive pleas from authorities ahead of Easter.
On Thursday, Road Safety Minister Reece Whitby said he wanted a “zero Easter road toll” this year following five fatalities in 2025 and six in 2024.
“We’re going all out to achieve that; every available police officer will be on the road,” he said.
“There will be that concentration in the so-called ‘arc of influence’ around Perth into the regions where people are going to be on the roads.”
Road Policing Commander Mike Peters urged the community to “make good choices” as WA Police deployed a new fleet of high-visibility vehicles.
The fleet includes four BMW X5s for the highway patrol team and three for the road policing group.
Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political reporter and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Prize for best political journalism.Connect via X or email.
