Hotline for hoons rings off the hook

FED-UP residents are reporting hoons on Townsville roads almost three times a day, new figures show.

Queensland Police data obtained by the Townsville Bulletin revealed there were 1038 digital and phone reports of hooning in Townsville from July 1 to April 25 this year, an increase on the year before.

There were just 905 reports in the 12 months to June 2018.

Queensland Police established the hooning hotline in 2010 to crack down on the offending.

Hooning covers any antisocial behaviour conducted in a car, van or motorbike – such as speeding, street racing, burnouts and playing music from a car stereo.

It includes offences such as dangerous driving, careless driving, driving without reasonable consideration for other people, driving in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke, and racing or conducting speed trials on a public road.

Townsville Police Acting Superintendent Steve Munro said the increase could be put down to a number of factors.

“You’ve got the general hoons … but the unfortunate set of circumstances for us is we have too many cars stolen, and too many cars driven dangerously on our road network, and the good people of our community are doing the right thing and reporting it to police,” Supt Munro said. loud

The Bulletin last week revealed almost 1000 cars had been stolen in Townsville in the past financial year.

He said police in Townsville targeted particular hoon trouble spots.

“There’s a whole range of strategies we apply to address these concerns with the community,” he said.

Driveit NQ chairman Pat Driscoll was unsure whether the increase was due to an awareness of the reporting system or an overall rise in offending.

He said one of the reasons he was pushing for the development of a motorsport precinct was to provide an area where the people can express their need for speed in a controlled and safe environment.