Dire police prediction comes to fruition

After a tumultuous Summernats period in which police had been involved in what it described as "whack-a-mole" chasing dangerous driving behaviour and burnouts around the ACT, acting Inspector Mark Richardson warned that such behaviour would have dire consequences.

He had spoken out strongly, saying "at some point, someone will get wiped out".

His comments had elicited strong support online from the ACT community.

And that is what appears to have happened when a 14-year-old boy allegedly driving a stolen Toyota sedan, with four teenagers on board, reportedly ran a red light on the Barton Highway just before midnight on Wednesday and collided with a Toyota Hilux ute.

"I said someone would die on our roads as a result of hoon behaviour or dangerous driving," the head of ACT's Road Policing team said.

"[We] didn't have to wait too long for that to come to fruition."

A 19-year-old man was extracted from the wreckage of the stolen gold Toyota Avalon by ACT Fire and Rescue and transported to hospital in a critical condition, however he died a short time later.

A 14-year-old boy has been charged in the ACT Children's Court with culpable driving causing death after he allegedly drove a stolen car through the red light on the Barton Highway.

Police said the car had been stolen from Chisholm around 9.50am on Wednesday.

Acting Inspector Jonathon Turkich said it was unclear as to why the driver of the stolen car allegedly ran the red light. Police had not been in pursuit of the vehicle and had been called to the crash scene by another motorist.

The two occupants of the Hilux escaped serious injury.

Acting Inspector Turkich said the incident would have a ripple effect for families across the ACT and the country.

"It's devastating," he said.

"There's so many families that are going to be affected by this - first-responders, witnesses, paramedics - everybody's affected when something like this [happens] and it makes them even more tragic when they're 14 years old," he said.

"If I can get a message to any 14-year-old person or younger it is: please, please look after yourselves.

"Please, please look after your friends and please, please think about your family and all those around you."

Anyone who witnessed the incident or who may have dash cam footage relating to the incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website, quoting reference 7649756.