Driver facing string of charges after crash which killed 13-year-old girl

The woman was driving a Holden Commodore which hit a tree on the outskirts of Wattle Flat on October 12.

A 13-year-old female passenger was critically injured in the crash and died 11 days later at Westmead Children’s Hospital.

Police, paramedics, State Emergency Service personnel and other emergency services rushed to the scene just after 10.40am after the driver, an 18-year-old woman, allegedly lost control of the car on an unsealed piece of road.

MAP: Where the crash occurred …

They found three people - the driver and two other girls, aged 15 and 16 – suffering superficial injuries including suspected abdominal injuries. However, the 13-year-old girl was critically ill when emergency services arrived.

The 13-year-old had been sitting in the car’s rear passenger seat and bore the brunt of the crash. She was unconscious and suffering a large laceration to the head. 

NSW Ambulance sent three crews to the crash and dispatched the Bankstown-based rescue helicopter, which landed at the scene. After paramedics stabilised the teenager she was flown to Westmead.

The other three people in the car were treated at the scene by paramedics. Two of the three were then taken to Bathurst hospital via road ambulance in a stable condition.

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The driver underwent mandatory drug and alcohol testing immediately after the crash, with officers from the metropolitan-based Crash Investigation Unit investigating the incident.

She has been issued with a Court Attendance Note for the offences of dangerous driving occasioning death; negligent driving occasioning death; drive recklessly, furiously or at a speed or manner dangerous; and two counts of causing bodily harm by misconduct of a motor vehicle.

The driver’s licence was suspended and seized, and she has been granted conditional bail to appear before Bathurst Local Court on Monday, January 7.