Police have charged the driver of a rubbish truck that reversed into and killed an elderly man on a quiet Queens Park street earlier this month.

The 59-year-old man, from Riverton, faces one count of dangerous driving causing death. The charge was announced on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, more than three weeks after the crash, and the man is expected to face court in November. He has not been named, and the allegation has not been tested in court.

What happened on Balaka Way

The crash happened on Monday, 7 September, at about 8.50am on Balaka Way, a residential street in Perth's south-east in the City of Canning.

According to the ABC, which reported on CCTV footage of the incident, the man had been walking along the street when the truck backed into him and knocked him to the ground. Paramedics reached him within about 10 minutes and he was taken to Royal Perth Hospital with critical injuries, but he could not be saved. The driver was not hurt.

The man was 70-year-old An Yu, a Chinese national. People who lived nearby told reporters he was a gentle, quiet presence in the street, familiar to them from his regular morning and afternoon walks, and that he moved slowly after a stroke a few years earlier. He had been married for 35 years, and the ABC reported he has two daughters living in Beijing.

Major Crash Investigation officers took over the case on the day and appealed for witnesses.

A street with nowhere to turn

Residents have raised questions about the layout of Balaka Way itself. They describe it as an unfinished cul-de-sac that ends at a development site, with no proper turning space for large vehicles such as rubbish trucks — meaning trucks often have to reverse along the street.

Canning Mayor Patrick Hall said at the time of the crash that he was "deeply saddened" by the death. Since the charge was laid, he has said the City would take appropriate steps to make the road safer if that was found to be needed.

It has not been publicly confirmed whether the truck was operating on a council collection round or for a private contractor.

What happens now

The driver is due to appear in court in November. Dangerous driving causing death is among the most serious traffic offences in Western Australia and is dealt with in the District Court when it proceeds to trial or sentence.

For Queens Park residents, the case also leaves a practical question for the council: whether unfinished streets on the edge of development sites need turning bays, signage or changed collection arrangements so heavy vehicles are not reversing past people on foot.

Sources

This report draws on the ABC's report of the charge and its original report of the crash, with the charge also reported by 7NEWS and The West Australian.

Photo: Queens Park railway station, near where the crash happened. Steelkamp via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). File photo; it does not show the scene.