‘Little daredevil’: Brother’s heartbreaking tribute to son after teenage boys die in horror collision between bike, bus

The brother of a teenager who was riding a motorcycle that crashed into a bus – killing him and his mate – has paid tribute to his “little daredevil” as the community mourns the pair. Adrian Lai, 14, and William Drake, 15, died after their motorcycle crashed into the side of a bus on the Liverpool Paramatta Transitway at Bossley Park about 7.15pm on Monday. The two boys were treated by paramedics, but they both died at the scene. 9 News reports a makeshift memorial has been set up near the T-way. One witness spoke to the broadcaster, telling them he believed the bike was “going about 100” before he saw one of them go “straight under the bus”. The brother of one of the teenagers told 9 News: “I remember him as my little daredevil, as my ride or die pretty much.” In one video posted on TikTok, a user credits William and Adrian as the reason he bought a bike in the first place, describing them as the most fun people to ride with. “I’ll always cherish the memories I had with them, can’t believe I’ll never get to see anything but their graves now,” another user wrote. Another video credited William as his inspiration to get an e-motorcycle. “He was one of the best riders I knew, I never thought this day would come,” the video description read. “Everyone send prayers to Adrian and William (and their families).” Footage has emerged of the emergency response to a fatal crash between a bus and a motorcycle being ridden by a pair of teenage boys. Superintendent Craig Middleton told reporters on Tuesday, they were growing increasingly concerned about the illegal use of trail bikes and e-bikes. “Certainly, we do have a number of issues around illegal use of the T-way, whether its trail bikes or other vehicles and the police here are very proactive in their patrolling around the T-way,” he said. “We work very closely with our highway patrol who are very much aware of the illegal use of the T-way. “We’ve conducted a number of joint operations … and a number of trail bikes and e-bikes have been seized.” Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone said he personally wrote to Police Minister Yasmin Catley warning her that “something was going to happen” before the deaths. “We’ve been talking about this for months, and I only wish that the minister had acted when we told her to act because at the moment I feel a rollercoaster of emotions,” Mr Carbone said. “My heart goes out to the parents of the kids. We know they were doing the wrong thing, and many people would accept that, but they’re kids and it’s our role as a community and as a society to protect people even when they do the wrong thing, especially if they’re kids and they don’t understand. “I’m hurting. We lost two kids that go to school locally and are part of our community, but I’m also angry at the inaction. It should never have come to this.” Mr Carbone said he had been told that police resourcing in Western Sydney had been scaled back despite overwhelming community support for crackdowns on teenagers riding petrol and electric bikes illegally or recklessly. “The feedback I’m getting is that police resources in Western Sydney are no longer here,” he said. “They’ve been moved. The government had time to go out and do a blitz in Cronulla, and they got the media to show what they’re doing … stop doing the media stuff and start doing your job. “Hundreds of bike riders are using this T-way every single day, playing chicken with buses … I just feel like we’ve been really let down especially when we knew about it.” Mr Carbone’s comments come after a major e-bike compliance blitz across large swathes of southern and eastern Sydney last week. Following the blitz, NSW Police did indicate that further large-scale operations targeting e-bike riders would take place across other jurisdictions later in the year. The bus driver involved in the incident was uninjured and was taken to hospital for mandatory testing. All of the passengers on-board the bus were also uninjured. Anyone with information, including dashcam footage or CCTV, is urged to contact Fairfield City police or Crime Stoppers. Ms Catley’s office has been contacted for comment.