A woman driver charged after a school girl died after being hit by a car at a Kogarah bus stop is the sister of former NRL star Joe Galuvao.
Galuvao, a two-time premiership winner for Many Sea Eagles and Penrith Panthers, told Fairfax Media that his family were waiting for legal advice before making any comment.
Police arrested Puipuimaota Galuvao, 26, after the car she was driving mounted a footpath and ploughed into Aneri Patel, 16, outside a Kogarah chemist on Monday morning as she waited for a bus.
The Kogarah High School student died close to where St George TAFE fashion student Emma Hansen was killed by a learner driver in 2007.
It is alleged that Ms Galuvao, of Como, was unlicensed at the time she lost control of a Mitsubishi Challenger 4WD which struck Miss Patel about 11.30am before injuring two people inside O'Reilly & Daly Chemist.
Ms Galuvao had mandatory blood and urine testing before being interviewed by police who believe she was making a left-hand turn out of Montgomery Street into Railway Parade when she lost control of the vehicle.
She has been charged with several offences including dangerous driving occasioning death and driving without a licence, was granted bail and will appear in Kogarah Local Court on October 14.
The 29-year-old female passenger and vehicle owner, Heidi Watson, was treated in hospital for shock, according to police. Two young children – aged two and four – were in the car uninjured.
A critical incident team is investigating circumstances of the crash.
Superintendent David Donohue said Miss Patel was one of several students waiting for the bus.
‘‘She was just sitting there innocently waiting for the bus,’’ he said.
‘‘It could have been a lot worse. There were a lot of people at the bus stop.’’
Miss Patel’s parents went on Tuesday to the Railway Parade spot where their daughter was killed.
They were flanked by family and friends and left a bouquet on top of a mountain of flowers and notes.
A family spokesman said the Patel family were overcome with grief and too distraught to speak.
The scene of devastation in Kogarah's town centre, with the bus stop signpost torn from the ground and shattered glass and debris spread across the footpath, resembled that of an almost identical accident in 2007.
Fashion student Emma Hansen, 20, died and 11 were injured when a learner driver in a Toyota Echo crashed into a queue waiting at the same bus stop.
Residents who stopped and watched as emergency crews raced to the accident site on Monday were overheard saying ‘‘not again’’.
Kogarah Chamber of Commerce president Megan Barker said the accident was ‘‘a repeat of seven years ago’’.
‘‘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.
She wants the bus stop removed.
‘‘It's right on that bend and it's a blind spot. It was an accident waiting to happen,’’ she said.
When the out-of-control car slammed into the chemist next door, staff at Something Nice boutique thought a bomb had exploded.
‘‘It wasn’t just a bang, it was getting louder,’’ said staff member Melinda Pattey.
‘‘We didn’t know what happened, we were in shock.’’
Mrs Pattey was talking to a customer when the 4WD smashed through the chemist’s front window.
‘‘I just heard screaming, and the truck driver who witnessed it all pulled up in front of our shop and said, ‘Don’t go around there, it’s bad’.
‘‘When the people got pinned, you could hear everything.
‘‘We gave the driver some water and a seat because we didn’t know who she was, she was clearly distressed.’’
The scene was reminiscent of the 2007 accident in the same spot.
‘‘Ever since Emma passed away, you still see people speeding through that corner, especially when they’re turning,’’ Mrs Pattey said.
‘‘You just don’t feel safe.
‘‘As retailers and as parents, we’ve been saying that for years.
‘‘It was only a matter of time it happens again and somebody else gets killed.’’
She said this should be a wake-up call to Kogarah Council.
‘‘We all waited for something to be done after the first accident,’’ she said.
‘‘They [the council] have a lot of revenue, so rather than putting up barriers on the other side of the road with a beautiful water fountain feature and a garden, they could build a fence on our side or move the bus stop down.’’