Street drag laws fail man

[Belangalo]

dailytelegraph.com.au By Steve Barrett and Steve Gee October 16 2008

A motorcyclist questrioned over a collision that killed a father-of-four in Sydney's south-west is still a ''person of intrest'', police say

Police had linked the man to death of Sydney dad Toufic El Zahab-the latest innicent victim of the State Government's broken promises to crack down on illegal street racers.

The hard-working father of four died instantly on Tuesday night when his work van was struck head-on by a sports car allegedly street racing a motorcycle.

A witnesses told police the sports car and a motorcycle ''accelerated harshly'' from traffic lights on the busy Hume Highway near Warwick Farm just before the fatal incident. Following widespread media coverage of the crash , a 35-year-old man claiming to be the motorcyclist turned himself in to Liverpool police station about 7:40pm last night.

The Liverpool resident was questioned for several hours -following an appeal to surrender from Mr El Zarabs grieving family yesterday. Police said the man admitted riding his motorcycle at Warwick Farm at the time of the crash. However , the motorcyclist was released without charge , pending further investigations. ''He is still a person of interest,''police said.

Meanwhile crash investigators today confirmed a 17-year-old girl injured in the crash ahd been a passenger in Mr El Zahab's Hiace van. The father-of-four's family yesterday mistakenly claimed the girl was in the Honda.

Mr El Zahab's death comes almost a year after the Government vowed to crack down on hoons. But it will be at least another 18 months before laws allowing police to crush cars caught street racing are in place.

The last information about the Honda driver was he was in a critical condition in hospital. That information was reported by 2gb.com.au