Crash at Perth Motorplex compounded by erroneously ‘doing what an adult told her to do’, court told

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

An eight-year-old girl who died after crashing her drag racer in Perth was going too fast when an official appeared to wave her towards the exit gate, an inquest has heard.

Anita Board suffered a catastrophic brain injury in the crash at Perth Motorplex on 11 November 2017, two days after her birthday when she reached the minimum age to compete.

She was trying to obtain her licence and had setbacks before completing her first attempt, including being made to repeat a practical test because she appeared nervous.

After a false start, she sped off, reaching almost 86km/h in her “Pony Power” dragster, which was emblazoned with pictures of her favourite My Little Pony character.

She completed what her father Ian Board described as a “beautiful, straight run”.

But after crossing the finish line, she didn’t slow down enough to exit the track, so her father panicked and hoped she’d continue on straight ahead as she’d been taught.

Volunteer track official Shaun Rosling came on to the track and says he signalled to Anita to slow down, but others, including her father, thought he might also be waving her towards the exit gate.

“Ian realised she was just doing what an adult told her to do,” Senior Constable Turner told the Western Australian coroner’s court on Monday.

Anita turned sharply at the last minute, smashed into a barrier and despite being fastened in her harness, hit her head on the steering wheel, cracking her helmet.

Turner said it was possible the impact pushed the steering column towards the driver or the seat moved forward.

This could not be confirmed because the Australian National Drag Racing Association cleared the scene and partly dismantled the vehicle before police arrived later that day, when racing had resumed.

Coroner Sarah Linton said ANDRA hadn’t initially appreciated the seriousness of the situation.

“I understand there’s pressure on everyone to keep things moving.”

Police also didn’t “get on the front foot”, Linton said, as major crash officers didn’t examine the scene until two weeks' later.

It was initially believed major crash didn’t need to investigate as the track was on private land.

“I believe that they should have gone there on the day,” Turner said.

He said he believed an eight-year-old was too young to control a vehicle at high speeds, judge distances and take instruction from officials.

Acting detective sergeant Lyn Mead said many previous accidents on the track involved the exit gate, which required a sharp turn and should not be part of licensing tests.

Anita died the day after the crash, and her heart, liver, pancreas and kidneys were donated.

Junior drag racing was banned in WA as a result of the tragedy.