Teen boy dies a day after high-speed car crash in Somerton

A 15-year-old boy has died in hospital, a day after he was critically injured in a high speed crash in Somerton.

It comes amid calls for a greater focus on high-level speeding offences to lower the road toll.

The 15-year-old was among four teenagers injured in the early hours of Monday morning when the Volkswagen they were in – driven by a 17-year-old L plater, crashed.

The car was allegedly breaking the speed limit by as much as 70 kilometres an hour when it went through a red light and slammed into a truck.

The boy died in hospital last night while a second teen is still in a critical condition. Two others had serious injuries.

The death brings the road toll to 234 with police already fearing the annual figure could tip last year’s 249, a third of which were the result of high speed crashes.

The RACV says there needs to be a new strategy, suggesting lower fines for low level speeding offences and bigger fines plus bigger demerit point penalties for speeding offences at the upper end of the scale.