Police doubt licence of driver involved in deadly crash

POLICE will check the driver’s licence of a 19-year-old who is now the main suspect in a road accident which killed three people in Port Moresby.
The accident on Mar 22 happened at Gordon police barracks when a single cab Toyota Land Cruiser utility went off the road, struck and killed three bystanders then crashed into a fence.
Police Inspector Joseph Salle said the suspect would be questioned about his licence when he was discharged from hospital.
“We will look at … whether he has gone through the normal process or had obtained the documents illegally from insiders,” Salle said.
Police are still looking for the owner of the vehicle. The owner was not in the vehicle at the time.
Salle said that for a driver to obtain a Class 6 licence, he or she has to first have a Learner’s Permit, Licence Class 1 and Class 1 fulltime, Class 3 and Class 6, according to the Road Traffic Authority Act.
“It used to take six months to one year previously and is still being practised today to obtain first stages of licences until all the processes are completed to obtain a Class 6,” Salle said.
He said investigations would be made to see if the driver’s licence documentation was done correctly.
“Drinking and driving is an offence and many people have being charged for breaching the law,” he said.
According to police, “the vehicle was on high speed along the Gordon circuit from Cornerstone Church when the driver, believed to be heavily intoxicated, lost control and ran off to the right
lane, hit bystanders resulting in three deaths and one seriously injured”.
The vehicle remains at the scene of the accident.