Hack On Triplej (5.30pm Today)

[Shell]

Just in case anyone is interested....

This arvo on HACK: A police operation broke up a 200 car illegal drag racing event in Melbourne last night... but drag racers and drifters say there aren't enough places to race cars LEGALLY. Are police operations like this having an impact on drifting/drag racing?

[Swiper the Fox]

Just in case anyone is interested....

This arvo on HACK: A police operation broke up a 200 car illegal street racing event in Melbourne last night... but street racers and drifters say there aren't enough places to race cars LEGALLY. Are police operations like this having an impact on drifting/street racing?

fixed

[mad082]

if it was at a point where drift, drag and track meets were overflowing with entrants and the cops weren't constantly busting people for doing it on the streets i think you would find the government much more willing to provide more services to voters, but when there are so many people doing it on the street who have never been to a proper meet simply because they are too lazy, etc, i think you will find it hard to get money out of the goverment. i think the government is viewing it is that there are so many people doing it illegally and only a handful of people utilising the proper locations, why should they poor in more money for such a minority. i also think that people should stop looking at the government for funding of this and start looking at big business.

look at it this way, if you get a bunch of young enthusiests going to council/goverment asking for land to develope a racing area, they will just think you are hoons. however if you can get some big businesses to back it and either partially or fully fund it then you are going to have a much better chance of getting government approval, as well as being taken more seriously by the media and getting a positive spin put on it, rather than them putting negative spin on it.

[JimmyRickard]

I'm not looking forward to this. Hack is a pretty evenhanded program, but I can't imagine most of the deadshits who show up to these meets would be be able to string a sentence together, let alone put forward a coherent argument for the expansion of motorsport facilities in Victoria as a deterrent for street racing.

[Sarumatix]

Just starting now

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/listenpop/listen_live.htm

[smart_one]

anyone who says that they do this shit on the street and blame it on lack of tracks is a wanker no questions about it.

EG: do you smoke in a large hospital just because there arn't enough smoking areas designated for smokers?

Hang on i'm going to shoot this person because the government says that I am not allowed to shoot people

[NZM.031]

well i feel extremely disheartened that those people have represented "hoons" on a respected national radio news spot. they have done us no favours in being seen in a good, respectable light.. now not only old people hate us.. young people will hate us too.

why cant they interview normal folk?? ones that can atleast speak with decent language, not "i spent $60000 on my car, others might say buy a house or sumfin but i dont give a shit aye, i love it and ill keep doin it"

seriously!

shane... or steven.. i cant remember his name now... he did a good job.. but i think what he said will be forgotton compared to the first people.

the problem is half of these cars that attend illegal drags are skylines.. heck, there was a skyline being revved up in the background.

the gen pop needs more education as to why we modify cars, why our cars are not "unsafe" when modified correctly and why we do what we do.

[NZM.031]

they also need to seperate those that drive stupid with 4 of their friends in the car. regardless of the car.. that is just stupid.

[l_uk3y]

Yeah just watched it on the news.

Whether there were normal people that they declined to interview. Most seemed very "Dumbass Wanker" to me.

Bit like that fool. "I love hearing my wastegate open up. I got 350kw mate" or some rubbish like that. I mean seriously. No wonder the public hates us all. I bet less then 2% of them have even seen a 1/4 mile track from the spectating position let alone actually raced. Proper example of hoon.

[Shell]

well i feel extremely disheartened that those people have represented "hoons" on a respected national radio news spot. they have done us no favours in being seen in a good, respectable light.. now not only old people hate us.. young people will hate us too.

why cant they interview normal folk?? ones that can atleast speak with decent language, not "i spent $60000 on my car, others might say buy a house or sumfin but i dont give a shit aye, i love it and ill keep doin it"

seriously!

shane... or steven.. i cant remember his name now... he did a good job.. but i think what he said will be forgotton compared to the first people.

the problem is half of these cars that attend illegal drags are skylines.. heck, there was a skyline being revved up in the background.

the gen pop needs more education as to why we modify cars, why our cars are not "unsafe" when modified correctly and why we do what we do.

yep, that pretty much sums it up...

Shane/Steven was the drift guy they interviewed afterwards yeah? He did good... but yeah like you said... most people just remember the "yeah I'm a hoon and I'm proud of it bro" types and what they said.

Love the chick... Reporter: "There's not many girls into cars is there".. Her: "naaaaah just the sick bitches"

At least JJJ just report it pretty much how it was, without some ACA-type angle... and they also gave a lot of info about hoon laws in all the states etc.

[Kinks]

well i feel extremely disheartened that those people have represented "hoons" on a respected national radio news spot. they have done us no favours

the problem is that nobody is prepared to make a distinction in the national media that there are hoons (f**kwits) and there are car enthusiasts that are still safety conscious and take it to the track rather than poorly controlled street racing.

I think it's perfectly reasonable that a tool is revealed as a tool, I just don't want to be tarred with the same brush.

[NZM.031]

the problem is that nobody is prepared to make a distinction in the national media that there are hoons (f**kwits) and there are car enthusiasts that are still safety conscious and take it to the track rather than poorly controlled street racing.

I think it's perfectly reasonable that a tool is revealed as a tool, I just don't want to be tarred with the same brush.

i had my phone ready for if kate asked for people to ring in... but she didnt.. i left a message on the hack site though.. maybe if alot of others do this hack will revisit it and help seperate the enthusiast that gives their car a fun loving squirt every now and then, and those that purposely carry out proper illegal activities because its illegal.

victoria is a small state.. with several tracks.. and a boat ride over to tassie.. i dont think those idiots should be complaining about their track situation NSW is a huge state... with 2 actual race tracks good enough for cars..

personally... i think the way to stop hoons is to start at school. more people drive in adult life than they do maths or geography. they need to approach provisional licence holders like bike riders..

to get your L's you have to go to a training centre and complete a 2 day course on bike control and riding, stay on your L's for a minimum of 6 months.. the book in to a training centre to do another rider training course and a supervised road ride. then you have to be on your p's for 12 months before you can ride a bigger, more powerful bike.

firstly, this sorts the people that cant ride from the people that can.. then it sorts out those that really want to ride a bike.. from those that want a bike to impress their mates.. then after 12 months, youve learnt a higher level of bike control and can take on a bigger bike.

with cars.. you walk in to the RTA, drive around the block, and youve got your licence.

i think in order to get a provisional licence.. you should have to complete a course, with skidpan and high speed test in the wet and dry, and in a light car and a heavy car, if you pass.. you can have a provisional licence.

if you fail.. you cant drive, stay on your l's until your ready.

i also think its too easy for kids to get a hold of money.. i know parents want their kids to have a safe and reliable car.. but i think their should be a limit as to what banks loan under 25's..

im 25, and i look back to the cars ive owned.. and they have been so easy to get a hold of.. i have been an idiot before, but i learned my lesson when i lost my licence when i was 20 and that was pre turbo's.. i havent had a speeding fine since, i think back to my p plate days and can barely remember them.. all that ego and machonisim that was built up in TAFE carparks means nothing now.. but it couldve caused serious and irrepairable damage to myself or others.

cheers

Linton

[R31Nismoid]

Problem is as always, the people "targeted" to give interviews are always the people that are just "siiick bro".

They never understand fully why they are there, what would fix it, what is/isn't being done overall.

Just silly sheeps

So in effect, by seeking such people out, overall not a "lot" better than a ACA report as they employ the same tactics.

[BXAFTW]

victoria is a small state.. with several tracks.. and a boat ride over to tassie..

cheers

Linton

what is this supposed to mean?

[JimmyRickard]

Problem is as always, the people "targeted" to give interviews are always the people that are just "siiick bro".

They never understand fully why they are there, what would fix it, what is/isn't being done overall.

Just silly sheeps

So in effect, by seeking such people out, overall not a "lot" better than a ACA report as they employ the same tactics.

Unfortunately there's no story in car enthusiasts being enthused by cars.

[JimmyRickard]

what is this supposed to mean?

Symmons Plains and Baskerville raceway are only a boat ride away.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

This an argument we will never win as we are the minority in the car community... Unfortunately the majority is habbibi in his VN with stockies on the back... and habbibi is ALWAYS the one the media will target for interviews. Why? Well lets take a similar example... TV, and what people actually want to watch

What are the highest ratings grabbers on TV at the moment? Is it a documentary on string theory by Dr. Michio Kaku, or some cheap american reality show about singing/dancing.

The public as a whole wants to watch the Easy stuff, not the stuff that requires your brain to actually be "switched on"

People don't want Intelligent television about car enthusiasts that challenges the perceptions they already have about the car community. They want to be shown sensationalist crap that reinforces the stereotypes they already have. This is where ACA et al shine in the ratings above 4 corners etc..

as the great Bill Hicks once said... "Go back to sleep America, your government is in control... Here's 56 channels of American Gladiators... You are free, to do as we tell you... Keep repeating you are free"

Honestly the best you can do is to try to have your car looking better, and more "enthusiast" looking than habbibi's conformodore and hope the police have the sense to realise this, which they very often do, as they actually deal with this on a daily basis. They will still target skylines, and with good reason unfortunately...

[Birds]

the problem is that nobody is prepared to make a distinction in the national media that there are hoons (f**kwits) and there are car enthusiasts that are still safety conscious and take it to the track rather than poorly controlled street racing.

I think it's perfectly reasonable that a tool is revealed as a tool, I just don't want to be tarred with the same brush.

Unfortunately there's no story in car enthusiasts being enthused by cars.

On these notes, I was interviewed on the Saturday just gone by a journalist who was given by his editor the task of writing an article on Melbourne's car scene. I gave him the responsible car enthusiast's point of view and made specific distinction between "us" and "them" (hoons, street racers etc.). It will be interesting to see how the article eventuates. What did annoy me about this project is that it had a pre-determined spin to it, i.e. the editor specified his need to interview derelicts too, carry on with the stereotypes etc. - I guess this is the sensationalism of it, for without the hoon part of the story there is no story. So whether I / my opinions are painted in good light or with the same brush as the hoons, will be interesting to see.

I was reluctant at first to help him out because of the pre-determined direction his article was supposed to take, but then my thoughts were: this article is going to be written with or without my help, we might as well give the car enthusiast side some representation and distinction so that a learned few can discover there is more to our car scene than just the hoons that plague it.

My closing recommendations were that certain young males doing stupid things is something you cannot rule out with laws and scare tactics - even if you do, after them you will have a whole new generation of them to deal with. This kind of behaviour needs to be facilitated...as much as our government would not want to invest money in hoons. For the the same and more reasons that we have built skate parks and bowls to keep skateboards away from public places, so too do the hoons need a place to vent their energy. For now they only have one evil to choose from, i.e. race on the streets. It can be done at any traffic light at any time, on impulse. Hence why it is done. But give them some close by venues with subsidised costs and although you won't entirely cure the problem you will certainly reduce it by giving people a lesser of two evils to choose from.

[NZM.031]

Symmons Plains and Baskerville raceway are only a boat ride away.

bingo.. thats 4 race tracks that i know of.. in a reasonably close area.

you guys are right.. the stereo typical young male is something you will never stop..

i think you have to discipline them like you would a puppy.. reward the good behaviour and ignore the bad.. if you smack a dog for being bad, its getting attention, good or bad, thats what it wants.. a reaction from you. if you smack a dog, it can make it aggressive later on, its only attack is to bite, if it sees a hand coming for its head, its first thought is its going to get smacked, so it will bite, the difference is whether it bites hard or soft..

my old boy had a good idea.. every town has its own "drag strip" a place that people have been going to for generations. every one knows about it, and used to turn a blind eye as it was usually away from town..

why cant police make it an organised meet.. block off the road.. supervise the behaviour, throw on a sausage sizzle, get to know the kids.. nut out the bad ones from the good ones.. look over their cars, dont defect them, instead encourage them to modify them safely, point out defects and suggest other ways to modify them.. if 2 weeks later, there has been no change taken on the suggested mods, then defect them..

police need to get these kids on side, to respect the police and want to do the right thing in the right place.. the way they are treating it at the moment is inspiring hate among everyone involved, and lets face it, some of the wild cars out there are paid for by, well, you know.. it didnt come from working 9-5 at k-mart.. if a cop pisses off one of these guys.. then its a whole other war brewing.

and its the poor sod driving his reasonably stock r33 to work one day that gets hounded by the cops for no reason.

[ShaolinCurse]

like every situation, the majority poorly represent the minority, e.g. i live next to a retirment village, the old people driving around my area make me sick, most of the time i could get out and overtake them on foot, some of them can only be seen by the top of their heads they are so small it amazes me how these people can drive; however i no of some elderly men who don't even consider themselves old, in my comp there was a team of guys who i soon found out the youngest was about 65 eldest maybe mid70's who didn't wanna play in the over 55's comp so they played opened mens against us and honestly i was so shocked at their performance that one day i actually asked them when they were elegible for the over 55's coz they would dominate that, and they all laughed thinking i was joking, after getting to no them more, i learnt one of them drives a DB9 and another wanted to buy a R35GTR, since then my perception of "all old people should just sit in the retirement homes" has changed alot...

hopefully one day the general publics perception of "every p-plater / modified car driver is a hoon and should be locked up" willl change and the GTR-R34 doing 130 on the freeway at 2am with te37's, coilovers, jdm TBE and a proper tune will be seperated from the toyota camry with a coffee tin exhast tip, shiny hub caps and chopped springs doing 100 on a Friday night on George street.....