High School student Aneri Patel, 16, dies after 4WD crashes into Kogarah chemist on Railway Parade

The O'Reilly & Daly Chemist on Railway Parade, Kogarah, reopened Wednesday after a 4WD smashed through its front window on Monday killing Kogarah High School student Aneri Patel, 16, and injuring two others.

The shop was quiet when the doors opened just after 8am with boards still covering the shattered windows and floral tributes left for Ms Patel on the footpath outside.

Staff are still in shock over the incident which injured employee Sue Ferguson, 51. 

She was working inside the chemist at the time of the crash and taken to St George Hospital in stable condition after being injured by debris.

A spokesman for the shop declined to comment.

Have you been back to the chemist or left a floral tribute at the site? 

UPDATED TUESDAY: A lone school shoe, left in the gutter, was a sad reminder of a young life cut short after a fatal car accident at Kogarah on Monday morning.

Aneri Patel, 16, from Kogarah High School died after a 4WD crashed into the O'Reilly & Daly Chemist at Kogarah, demolishing half the shop, about 11.30am.

Miss Patel was believed to be waiting at the bus stop on Railway Parade to go home after exams, when she was hit by the Mitsubishi Challenger four-wheel-drive just before 11.30am.

The car had crashed into the front of the chemist shop, hitting employee Sue Ferguson and trapping a customer in his 84. They were taken to nearby St George Hospital for treatment.

Police were first on the scene where Aneri Patel was trapped under the vehicle, suffered critical injuries and died.

The accident happened close to where St George TAFE fashion student Emma Hansen, of Orange, 20, died on March 27, 2007,  after a Toyota Echo driven by a female learner driver from Arncliffe ploughed into a crowded bus stop near the corner of Montgomery Street and Railway Parade. Eleven others waiting for a bus, including a toddler,  were injured at the same stop.

St George police arrested the female driver, 26, Monday afternoon. She had blood and urine testing at St George Hospital before she was taken to Kogarah Police Station.

The woman had mandatory blood and urine testing before being interviewed by police. She was charged with a number of driving offences, including dangerous driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning death and being a never-licensed person driving a vehicle on the road, police said.

She was given bail and will appear in Kogarah Local Court on 14 October.

The 29-year-old female passenger, and owner of the vehicle, was treated in hospital for shock.

Two children – aged two and four ­– who were also in the car, were not injured.

Investigations are continuing and police appeal for witnesses to come forward or contact them on 1800 333 000. A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

Many shocked residents and business owners around Kogarah were shocked yesterday that another fatality had happened at almost the same spot and called for traffic measures to made the intersection safer.

Some of Aneri Patel's fellow students, teachers and friends gathered at the crash site Tuesday morning for an informal service to remember her. 

Parents of students at Kogarah High were informed of the student's death via a text message.  

Deputy principal Ross Tindale said in the message that counselling would be available to students.

Year 11 exams were postponed until Tuesday and Wednesday.

A Department of Education spokesman said Kogarah High School was deeply saddened by the death of one its students. 

‘‘The school community’s thoughts are with the student’s family and friends,’’ he said.

‘‘The school is providing counselling support to students and staff.’’

Kogarah  Council issued a statement saying an investigation would be conducted and "should any recommendations result from these investigations, council will respond accordingly".

The bus stop on the corner of Railway Parade and Montgomery Street remains closed. Passengers on routes 446, 455, 476, 477, 947, 958 and 422 should alight at the corner of Railway Parade and Derby Street.

Routes affected in both directions are the 446, 455, 476, 477, 947, 958 and 422.

St George police said the car was turning left on to Railway Parade at the intersection of Montgomery Street, mounted the kerb and crashed through the bus stop into the chemist.

Harry, of Hurstville, had just walked out of the tobacconist after buying a ticket in tonight’s Lotto.

''The car came around the bend...all of a sudden I heard a thud of the car hitting the gutter, bouncing up going straight into the chemist window and as it was going trough the window it missed a lady with a pram by about 18 inches,'' he said.

''As the car went in the window started to shatter and fall and she’s zigzagging away from the shattered glass. I ran across the road and she panicking, we brushed the glass out of the baby’s {toddler, about 4)  hair, and her hair.'

''It just missed her, it just missed her.

''The first thing I heard was the thud of the tyres hitting the gutter.

''I believe there was a school girl in there. They [the police] are calling it a crime scene. 

''I had to go to the physio at the hospital this morning, that’s why I’m here. I just put the lotto in, I'm still holding it [the ticket].

''I was here for the other one (Emma Hansen). The other one just missed us. We were crossing the road, went straight through.''

Kaimaki Cafe owner at Kogarah, Nick Georgopoulos, who was shopping nearby, said it was a tragic accident that never should have happened.

‘‘The intersection is a nightmare,’’ he said.

‘‘They should have fixed this years ago when the first accident happened.’’

Another woman from Carlton, whose daughter-in-law was in the Something Nice dress shop next door to the chemist, said she saw a lady with a pram and ‘‘she started screaming because glass was  everywhere. I thought it was a bomb’’.

She said it was a ‘‘very complicated set of lights’’ and after the 2007 accident a footpath fence/barricade should have been put in. 

Her son also asked why the council had not constructed a fence or other measure.

‘‘It was an accident waiting to happen again,’’ he said. ‘‘We saw the young girl motionless on the ground, and that was shocking. She was most probably in the shop. The car went in at the counter.’’

In April 2007, the Leader quoted an RTA spokesman as saying the intersection did not rate among the worst in Sydney.

‘‘In the four years between 2003 and 2006 there were eight crashes at the intersection, resulting in three people being injured,’’ the spokesman said at the time.

‘‘While any injury crash is regrettable this crash history for an intersection of this type is relatively standard.’’

At the time, the spokesman said the RTA would review the intersection before any changes were made.

A Kogarah Council spokeswoman said on Monday afternoon that the ''accident is a tragedy and the council’s sympathy and thoughts are with the family of the victim and the other injured parties.

''Investigations will now be conducted by the appropriate authorities into today’s accident and should any recommendations result from these investigations council will respond accordingly.

''Police have advised that no further comment be made until such time as the results of the investigation are made available.’’ 

In a joint statement released on Monday afternoon, a spokeswoman for the NSW Centre for Road Safety and Roads and Maritime Services said ‘‘We need to work with police once they complete their investigation and look at the options including dropping the speed limit further, installing physical barriers and examining the location of the bus stop and the turn.”

The intersection is a regional road under the care and control of Kogarah Council.

Kogarah Chamber of Commerce president, Megan Barker told Fairfax Media today that the intersection was extremely confusing for drivers.

Mrs Barker described the intersection where the crash occurred as extremely confusing for drivers.

"This is a repeat of seven years ago, when a car lost control and hit the bus stop," she said.

"For one, we need signage so that cars coming around Railway Parade north know they have to give way to traffic coming down Montgomery Street, that they have to put on their right blinker. There's no signage, nobody knows that," she said.

"We need proper signage, we need bollards up so that this will never happen again. We also need that bus stop removed. It's right on that bend and it's a blind spot. It was an accident waiting to happen."

FIVE WAYS TO FIX RAILWAY PARADE

Lower the speed limit: After the 2007 fatality, Kogarah  Council dropped the speed limit along Railway Parade from 60km/h to 50km/h.  Raphael Grzebieta, a road safety expert from the University of NSW, says it should be 30km/h.’’

Erect steel bollards: There is no device to prevent pedestrians from going on to the road or cars from mounting the kerb at the bus stop. Mark Arena (see story above) wants  effective  posts installed.

Install arrow traffic lights: The traffic lights at the nearby intersection of Railway Parade and Montgomery Street simply turn green, without indicating when cars can turn left or right. Bexley resident Salim Elmahhoun, a taxi driver  for 20 years,   says  green-arrow traffic lights would  solve the problem of speed and confusion.’

Move the bus stop: On Tuesday, commuters were instructed to walk 200 metres south to another bus stop, near Derby Street. Esther Nissan, an 82-year-old retiree from Dolls Point, has caught the 476 bus from the black spot every second day for the past 20 years. ‘‘I felt unsafe waiting there. They should move it.’’

Set up barriers: Bexley resident Eva Issa has operated Eve’s Apple fruit shop opposite the scene of the crash for 23 years.  A steel barrier runs along the kerb on her side of the street. She wants the same for the other side of the road. 

Do you know more? What do you think needs to be done to make the intersection and Railway Parade a safer pedestrian area?