Hoon cars set for chop under laws
SPECTATORS and organisers of hooning events could be fined nearly $6000 under laws set to be established.
An agreement between police and firefighters will also allow cars confiscated from hoons to be used for rescue practice, meaning vehicles will be cut up. Police Minister Mark Ryan said the government would make it a crime to be a willing spectator or participant in a hooning event. It will also be an offence to carry items used in hooning, such as fake numberplates, hydraulic jacks or spare tyres.
Queensland’s anti-hooning laws put the onus on the owner of a car to prove they were not driving at the time of the crime. Aggravation will be added for car owners who try to circumvent those laws by removing their number plates or using false plates.
“It’s all about holding hoons to account,” Mr Ryan said. “The message to hoons is clear – if you’re going to cut up our roads, we’re going to cut up your car.”
A car used in a burnout gender reveal last year was cut up by firefighters at Parliament House on Wednesday, with Assistant Commissioner Ben Marcus saying it was confiscated and the driver was jailed.
Mr Marcus said Queensland’s tough anti-hooning laws had reduced the number of incidents on the roads but the hoons had been pushed “underground”.
“The ones that remain are going to great lengths to avoid apprehension,” he said.
Hundreds of videos of alleged hooning have been uploaded to a new online Queensland Police Service portal since it went live earlier this year, allowing authorities to catch culprits.