Distressing details emerge as Bendigo boy dies after being hit by car
A driver who fatally struck a toddler in a tragic accident in regional Victoria initially believed he had hit an animal as he headed home from work, police say.
Fourteen-month-old toddler Spencer Roberts died after he was hit by a Mazda outside his home on High Street in the Bendigo suburb of Kangaroo Flat about 7.30pm on Wednesday.
Victoria Police say the 56-year-old driver pulled over thinking he had struck an animal, only to discover the critically-injured child after heading to the home to inform the occupants of the collision.
“The driver stopped after realising they hit an object,” Bendigo Highway Patrol Acting Senior Sergeant Dale Simm explained.
“(He) didn’t realise it was a child and has gone to a premises and informed the parents he believed it was an animal that he struck. They’ve then realised it was a child.”
The toddler was rushed to hospital but later died.
The shaken driver, who will not be charged over the incident, said he would never get behind the wheel again, 7News reported.
Just a day prior to Spencer’s death, his mother, Stacey Winning, shared video on social media of her son taking steps in a new pair of Nike shoes as his doting parents watched on.
Hours later, the child managed to wander from the family home and was killed in what Act Snr Sgt Simm described as “a tragic accident”.
How the child managed to exit the property is unclear, while police have asked for anyone with dashboard camera footage to come forward.
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