Hoons Run Wild

[tweety bird]

UPDATE 9.36am: A LOBBY group has called for tougher penalties for hoons after police today admitted tougher hoon laws were failing to curb driver behaviour. Record numbers of cars are being impounded and crushed - more than one every second day - despite the introduction of tougher laws in July.

The head of road policing, Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe, said police had expected hoons would change their behaviour and impounding rates would decrease after the new laws were introduced.

"That was my expectation, that we would get a reduction, that there would be an improvement in driver behaviour," he said.

"But that's not happening. That's clearly not happening. The data shows us that we are not having any impact on reducing such driver behaviour."

More than 1000 cars were impounded and police crushed 55 cars in the three months to September 30.

It took almost seven months for the same number of cars to be destroyed after a previous round of legislation was introduced in mid-2010.

Police statistics seen by the Herald Sun reveal:

1038 cars were impounded from July 1 to September 30 - more than 11 a day.

POLICE seized 801 cars - fewer than nine a day - in the same period last year.

THE youngest hoon whose car was impounded was a 14-year-old Seaford boy caught driving carelessly in Frankston.

ALMOST a third of cars were seized because their drivers were disqualified or suspended.

Mr Walshe said the figures were frustrating.

"We are not getting the impact that we thought we would" especially since driving while suspended or disqualified were brought under the hoon laws, he said.

He said 310 vehicles had been impounded from disqualified or suspended drivers.

But Mr Walshe said he was "pretty comfortable" with the laws and police would have a better idea of their effectiveness after the first 12 months.

"All we can do is continue on with the enforcement that we do and generally try to put the message out there for people to heed the traffic laws and drive in a proper manner," he said.

Working Against Culpable Driving spokeswoman Penny Martin said she thought it would take more than three months of tougher laws for hoons to change their behaviour.

She said she welcomed increased enforcement targeting hoons.

"They’ve got to keep at it, keep at it, you’ve got to break the back,’’ Mrs Martin said.

Mrs Martin, whose son Josh was killed by a drink-driver, said she thought P-platers caught breaking road laws needed to face tougher penalties.

"What we would like to see is that probationary actually means probationary and if you break any road laws that are in this (hoon) category … any driving that endangers the public, then you are off the road full stop,’’ she said.

"Any drink or drug-driving first offence, you don’t wait for repeat offences when they’re P-plate drivers. What they’re doing is they’re taking their cars but they’re not touching their licence.

"Their licence should be not suspended (but) gone.’’

Mrs Martin said hoon driving was deliberate.

"Nobody can drive can drive accidentally 70kms over the speed limit. Nobody can accidentally do burnouts. Nobody can accidentally drive-drunk,’’ she said.

"The police don’t have to go far to find these drivers – they’re in their face – and they’re getting away with it. I have heard that they have cars just for hooning. They don’t care if it gets crushed.’’

Mrs Martin said she felt the State Government should overhaul the road laws, particularly those around drink-drivers.

"If they are serious about changing attitudes and behaviour on the roads they (the State Government) have to take it a lot more seriously in getting these drivers off the road,’’ she said.

"I can’t bear it when they say what more can we do? There’s 100 per cent more they can do.’’

Roads Minister Terry Mulder said more hoons than ever were off the roads in the first three months of the new laws because of police enforcement.

"It's only three months in, and the results speak for themselves. As more and more hoons are forced off the roads, we hope they'll start getting the message."

Mr Mulder said he had a simple message: "This will hurt. You'll lose your car, pay fines and impoundment costs, and will be walking for at least a month.

"What will this mean for your job? Your bank balance? Hooning is a very expensive exercise."

Driver education programs will be compulsory under the next hoon laws.

Road Trauma Support Services CEO Paul Ashton said hooning was a complex issue.

"In the past, I think from a hoon’s perspective, there was almost a bit of a badge of honour. You know, 'You got your car taken away for 48 hours. Wow I’m pretty great. I get it back on Monday’," Mr Ashton said.

"I think part of this is a bit of an educational program and awareness a from law enforcement’s point of view about getting the message out, that it’s no longer a badge of honour, you get your car taken away, it gets taken away for a month there are significant impositions and costs … and from the driver’s perspective it might be that there’s been a slowness in coming to an understanding that the rules of the game have changed.’’

Mr Ashton said about 1265 people attended the organisation’s road trauma awareness seminars last year – up from 295 in 2006.

He said most had been ordered to attend by a court while others had been sent by their lawyer ahead of their driving matters behind heard.

Mr Ashton said the organisation believed enforcement needed to be accompanied by education.

"You’ve got people out there that have got an attitude that’s reflected in their behaviour on roads,’’ he said.

"If you take the car away that’s the big slap on the wrist but if you don’t re-enforce that by saying, `Your attitude and your behaviour have real human consequences not only to yourself but to other people’ and to make people aware of what those consequences are I don’t think you start to see real behavioural change.

"We believe that there should actually be education accompanying the taking of the car in the first instance so that people in fact won’t get to the stage where their car is taken away for (three) months for a second offence.’’

[tweety bird]

UPDATE 9.36am: A LOBBY group has called for tougher penalties for hoons after police today admitted tougher hoon laws were failing to curb driver behaviour. Record numbers of cars are being impounded and crushed - more than one every second day - despite the introduction of tougher laws in July.

The head of road policing, Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe, said police had expected hoons would change their behaviour and impounding rates would decrease after the new laws were introduced.

"That was my expectation, that we would get a reduction, that there would be an improvement in driver behaviour," he said.

"But that's not happening. That's clearly not happening. The data shows us that we are not having any impact on reducing such driver behaviour."

More than 1000 cars were impounded and police crushed 55 cars in the three months to September 30.

It took almost seven months for the same number of cars to be destroyed after a previous round of legislation was introduced in mid-2010.

Police statistics seen by the Herald Sun reveal:

1038 cars were impounded from July 1 to September 30 - more than 11 a day.

POLICE seized 801 cars - fewer than nine a day - in the same period last year.

THE youngest hoon whose car was impounded was a 14-year-old Seaford boy caught driving carelessly in Frankston.

ALMOST a third of cars were seized because their drivers were disqualified or suspended.

Mr Walshe said the figures were frustrating.

"We are not getting the impact that we thought we would" especially since driving while suspended or disqualified were brought under the hoon laws, he said.

He said 310 vehicles had been impounded from disqualified or suspended drivers.

But Mr Walshe said he was "pretty comfortable" with the laws and police would have a better idea of their effectiveness after the first 12 months.

"All we can do is continue on with the enforcement that we do and generally try to put the message out there for people to heed the traffic laws and drive in a proper manner," he said.

Working Against Culpable Driving spokeswoman Penny Martin said she thought it would take more than three months of tougher laws for hoons to change their behaviour.

She said she welcomed increased enforcement targeting hoons.

"They've got to keep at it, keep at it, you've got to break the back,'' Mrs Martin said.

Mrs Martin, whose son Josh was killed by a drink-driver, said she thought P-platers caught breaking road laws needed to face tougher penalties.

"What we would like to see is that probationary actually means probationary and if you break any road laws that are in this (hoon) category … any driving that endangers the public, then you are off the road full stop,'' she said.

"Any drink or drug-driving first offence, you don't wait for repeat offences when they're P-plate drivers. What they're doing is they're taking their cars but they're not touching their licence.

"Their licence should be not suspended (but) gone.''

Mrs Martin said hoon driving was deliberate.

"Nobody can drive can drive accidentally 70kms over the speed limit. Nobody can accidentally do burnouts. Nobody can accidentally drive-drunk,'' she said.

"The police don't have to go far to find these drivers – they're in their face – and they're getting away with it. I have heard that they have cars just for hooning. They don't care if it gets crushed.''

Mrs Martin said she felt the State Government should overhaul the road laws, particularly those around drink-drivers.

"If they are serious about changing attitudes and behaviour on the roads they (the State Government) have to take it a lot more seriously in getting these drivers off the road,'' she said.

"I can't bear it when they say what more can we do? There's 100 per cent more they can do.''

Roads Minister Terry Mulder said more hoons than ever were off the roads in the first three months of the new laws because of police enforcement.

"It's only three months in, and the results speak for themselves. As more and more hoons are forced off the roads, we hope they'll start getting the message."

Mr Mulder said he had a simple message: "This will hurt. You'll lose your car, pay fines and impoundment costs, and will be walking for at least a month.

"What will this mean for your job? Your bank balance? Hooning is a very expensive exercise."

Driver education programs will be compulsory under the next hoon laws.

Road Trauma Support Services CEO Paul Ashton said hooning was a complex issue.

"In the past, I think from a hoon's perspective, there was almost a bit of a badge of honour. You know, 'You got your car taken away for 48 hours. Wow I'm pretty great. I get it back on Monday'," Mr Ashton said.

"I think part of this is a bit of an educational program and awareness a from law enforcement's point of view about getting the message out, that it's no longer a badge of honour, you get your car taken away, it gets taken away for a month there are significant impositions and costs … and from the driver's perspective it might be that there's been a slowness in coming to an understanding that the rules of the game have changed.''

Mr Ashton said about 1265 people attended the organisation's road trauma awareness seminars last year – up from 295 in 2006.

He said most had been ordered to attend by a court while others had been sent by their lawyer ahead of their driving matters behind heard.

Mr Ashton said the organisation believed enforcement needed to be accompanied by education.

"You've got people out there that have got an attitude that's reflected in their behaviour on roads,'' he said.

"If you take the car away that's the big slap on the wrist but if you don't re-enforce that by saying, `Your attitude and your behaviour have real human consequences not only to yourself but to other people' and to make people aware of what those consequences are I don't think you start to see real behavioural change.

"We believe that there should actually be education accompanying the taking of the car in the first instance so that people in fact won't get to the stage where their car is taken away for (three) months for a second offence.''

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/tough-hoon-laws-fail-to-stop-idiots/story-fn7x8me2-1226163360754

that was on the front of the herald sun this morning...

Edited October 11, 2011 by tweety bird

[tweety bird]

ash you really need to fix sau....

close this one please.

Edited October 11, 2011 by tweety bird

[blk94r33]

Same theory as speed cameras, so long as the coffers are being filled, safety and effectiveness is irrelevant....

[Ziller]

I had some dickhead in a blue XR6 turbo putting it on me "BIGTIME" for a drag from Port Melboune to St kilda last Saturday night at around 10.30pm, for all the public to see!

These fools dont help.

[htial]

The lack of car friendly locations also doesn't help. If I had the money I'd buy a huge block of land, pave it, and open it to the public.

But then someone will sue me for wrongful damage or death... ...Oh well...

[tweety bird]

The lack of car friendly locations also doesn't help. If I had the money I'd buy a huge block of land, pave it, and open it to the public.

But then someone will sue me for wrongful damage or death... ...Oh well...

na man, you would have the local city council + the greens on your arse long before you got the permit...

can't say i dont want to do the same thing though.

[emts]

The lack of car friendly locations also doesn't help. If I had the money I'd buy a huge block of land, pave it, and open it to the public.

But then someone will sue me for wrongful damage or death... ...Oh well...

Friends did this.

for his 21st b'day dad gave him a corner of a paddock with fresh laid concrete to "have fun on" years later when he moved away from home, old man turned it into a shed.

win win

[MUZT3K]

Friends did this.

for his 21st b'day dad gave him a corner of a paddock with fresh laid concrete to "have fun on" years later when he moved away from home, old man turned it into a shed.

win win

Very expensive process to do a decent sized area even if its plain concrete, Dad has his own business concreting so i know the rough prices

[xALmoN]

wouldn't road tar be cheaper?

[tweety bird]

look it's not just skylines...

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8358840

A Melbourne man has annoyed police and probably his mother too, after he had her car impounded for 30 days when he was caught travelling at more than three times the speed limit.The 20-year-old Forrest Hill man was driving his mother's Nissan Maxima when he was clocked travelling at 195km/h in a 60km/h zone in Box Hill, in Melbourne's east, on Wednesday morning, police said.

The man was bailed to appear at the Ringwood Magistrates' Court in February, facing a number oftraffic-related charges including exceeding the speed limit as well as conduct endangering life and conduct endangering persons.

His mother's car has been impounded for 30 days

[MUZT3K]

Still a nissan ..nissan poWa yOo0!

[drunkn snail]

look it's not just skylines...

http://news.ninemsn....aspx?id=8358840

A Melbourne man has annoyed police and probably his mother too, after he had her car impounded for 30 days when he was caught travelling at more than three times the speed limit.The 20-year-old Forrest Hill man was driving his mother's Nissan Maxima when he was clocked travelling at 195km/h in a 60km/h zone in Box Hill, in Melbourne's east, on Wednesday morning, police said.

The man was bailed to appear at the Ringwood Magistrates' Court in February, facing a number oftraffic-related charges including exceeding the speed limit as well as conduct endangering life and conduct endangering persons.

His mother's car has been impounded for 30 days

holly f**k, where do you even find a good 60km road thats possible to do 195 in a maxima.

[xALmoN]

box hill apparently.

[KamikazeNinja34]

A maxima will even get to 195???

[W0rp3D]

A maxima will even get to 195???

my 1800kg 5ltre 91 fairlane will do 175 with more in it (i assume ) so unless its speed limited its posible.

[KamikazeNinja34]

More power too

[shinyurikai]

Hmm I wonder if they would consider hiring the good performance drivers as under cover speed cameras?? Then you would be shitting your self where ever you go not just when you see a 2010 lancer, Holden or a ford. Or even give offenders a chances to redeem him self by catching a few other hoons.

[NewB]

nissan maxima...LMAO

[emts]

A maxima will even get to 195???

well my old 93 nissan bluebird with 2.4 NA 4 cyl cracked 200.

you just need to know some-one with a big enough block of land and straight enough rd...

hell our block was 1 mile wide and not enough....