Ngoc Thanh Vo charged after allegedly crashing into two children playing football in Braybrook, Melbourne
A driver accused of crashing into two children playing football in an alley behind their grandparents’ house was unfamiliar with driving and had only been in Australia for six days.
Vo Ngoc Thanh, 48, has been charged with dangerous driving following a crash in Braybrook, in Melbourne’s west, on Tuesday evening.
A three-year-old boy suffered minor injuries, while an eight-year-old boy underwent surgeries for multiple serious injuries after being trapped between two cars.
Vo, who arrived in Australia from Vietnam six days before the incident, allegedly mistook the accelerator for the brake as he drove in the driveway behind four townhouses.
Vo Ngoc Thanh, 48, was charged after allegedly crashing into two boys playing football in an alleyway in Braybrook, Melbourne, on Tuesday.
Police told the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday that Vo did not have a license and was generally unfamiliar with driving when he went out alone to drive around the block in a Toyota Prado.
Vo has never held a license.
CCTV footage reportedly shows Vo returning to the driveway where the vehicle suddenly accelerated, hitting three parked cars and the two children.
The younger boy was hit by one of the parked cars while the older boy was trapped between the Prado’s bullbar and the back of a second car.
He and the car were pushed over a concrete gutter at the end of the driveway, down a grass embankment, across a road and into the fence of a neighboring property, the court heard.
Vo, who arrived in Australia from Vietnam six days before the incident, allegedly mistook the accelerator for the brake as he drove in the driveway behind four townhouses (photo from emergency services at the scene and from one of the cars damaged by the incident)
He was trapped for about 20 minutes until emergency services arrived and suffered injuries to his pelvis, leg and femoral artery that required multiple surgeries, police said.
The eight-year-old will likely spend the next few months in hospital recovering, while his younger brother suffered minor injuries.
The court heard Vo was in Australia on a partner visa, living with his wife who supported him in court.
Police have asked for 12 weeks to gather a file of evidence, which is expected to include a mechanical reconstruction of the accident and a forensic analysis of the boys’ injuries.
Vo, who is out on bail, is due back in court on January 31 next year.
He was also charged with reckless driving endangering serious injury, driving without a license and careless driving.
Under the conditions of his bail, Vo had to surrender his passport and report to the police twice a week.
