By Jade Lawton
A PAKENHAM policeman was appalled to come across a car carrying six unrestrained children, all under the age of six, just hours after he attended the road death of an 11-year-old girl on Tuesday.
Cardinia’s Traffic Management Unit’s Senior Constable Brad Cummins saw the car travelling south on the Frankston Freeway just before 9pm.
He was returning from the State Coroner’s office after spending a large part of the day attending Tuesday’s fatal collision on McGregor Road.
Seeing two young children standing in the front seat, Sen Const Cummins stopped the Ford Falcon station wagon just south of Seaford Road.
He then discovered that another four children, including a nine-month-old, were unrestrained in the back seat.
“I was amazed when I saw the first two children unrestrained — but to find another four in the back, after spending all day attending the tragic death of a child… it’s disgusting,” he said.
“It was a fatal accident just waiting to happen,” he said.
Sen Const Cummins, himself a father of one, said the 25-year-old female driver from Frankston offered no explanation as to why the children were unrestrained.
He said it appeared the woman, who did not have a driver’s licence, was related to all the children in the car.
“I’m very disappointed that children’s lives are being disregarded.
“Children are the most vulnerable people in our community, and there are some drivers doing nothing to protect children in their vehicles,” he said.
Sen Const Cummins was utterly disgusted at the driver’s carelessness.
An 11-year-old girl was killed when the Toyota Landcruiser she was travelling in was involved in a collision with a truck.
Her twin brother, 14-year-old brother and parents, both 44, suffered minor injuries.
Police believe the day of the fatal accident was also the girl’s mother’s birthday.
Police said the girl was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
“We have to go to these jobs far too often…when you go to jobs like that, all you can think about is your own kid.
“Seatbelts are put in vehicles to save lives.
“Children clearly rely on adults to maintain their safety. There is simply no explanation. When are people ever going to learn?” he said.
The driver of the vehicle was interviewed at the scene before the children were driven home safely by police.
She will face charges of driving in a dangerous manner, careless driving and six counts of having an unrestrained child in a motor vehicle.
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