An 18-year-old Sunshine Coast man has died in a high-speed crash, after the car he allegedly stole veered off a road and crashed into a tree.
According to Queensland Police, the Noosa region man left Nambour Hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning after receiving treatment for a separate incident, and then allegedly stole a vehicle from a nearby property, belonging to a young family.
About 4.30am emergency services were called to Rutherford Road in Kulangoor after the car reportedly left the main road and veered onto a dirt road, rolled and crash into a large tree.
The 18-year-old driver died at the scene.
Senior Constable Peter Cowan said it was believed the driver was driving at an "excessively high speed" and lost control of the vehicle, leading to the collision.
"He had been treated at the hospital and was released on his own accord prior to the crash," he said.
"It is certainly tragic for any time of the year, let alone the Christmas period which is meant to be a happy festive time."
Senior Constable Cowan said the deceased man was not known to the owner of the car, and it appeared that he had broken into the owner's home, which was near the hospital, took the car keys and then stole the vehicle.
"The vehicle was travelling northbound on Nambour Connection Road, containing quite excessive speed coming down the hill and has lost control.
"As a result, it's travelled off the side of the road, through the grass verge and onto Rutherford Road, where it has overturned and ended up colliding the passenger side into a large tree."
According to Senior Constable Cowan, the allegedly stolen vehicle belonged to a family of six — a young couple with four children.
The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating the incident, and anyone with information or dash-cam vision from between Nambour and Kulangoor around the time of the crash is urged to contact police.
"We are certainly investigating the driving behaviour and anyone that might have camera footage of the white wagon driving erratically or anything, we would be interested in seeing that," Senior Constable Cowan said.
A report is being prepared for the coroner.
