A young motorcyclist has died after crashing into a centre-wire divider on the Tasman Highway following an attempted police traffic stop.
The 21-year-old man from Margate lost control near the Warrane overpass on Hobart’s eastern shore at around 12:30am on Saturday.
Southern District Commander Jason Elmer said officers had tried to pull the rider over for a routine licence and breath test near the Mornington Roundabout on the South Arm Highway minutes earlier.
“The motorcycle immediately accelerated upon that attempt to intercept and police disengaged with that motorcycle and made no further attempt to intercept it,” he said.
Elmer said the rider continued along the Tasman Highway at “considerable speed” and made it about a kilometre before crashing.
“[I have] no idea of the exact speed but there was debris for about 200 metres on the roadway, so we believe that significant speed played a major part in this crash,” he said.
A member of the public heard the impact and called Triple Zero. Despite efforts from paramedics and police, the young man died at the scene.
An investigation is underway, with Professional Standards reviewing the actions of police leading up to the crash.
“Our thoughts are certainly with the family and loved ones of this young man. This is a tragic occurrence,” Elmer said.
“Any death on our roads affects a wide range of the Tasmanian community.”
