130 cars impounded in hoon blitz

[Dauphin]

I thought that people might be interested to see how this new program is going:

August 17, 2006 09:01am
Article from: AAP

VICTORIA Police said it has impounded 130 cars belonging to drag-racers and other hoons since new legislation was introduced last month.

Among those caught were a 22-year-old speedster travelling at 180km/h in a 100-zone, and a P-plater nabbed twice in three weeks for doing burnouts and high-speed "fishtailing", police said.

Police have the power to impound vehicles for up to 48 hours under new anti-hoon laws introduced on July 1.

Of the 130 cars seized, more than half (80) were driven by probationary drivers, and most of the drivers were caught for speeding offences.

Some cars were impounded more than once.

This week, an 18-year-old P-plater, whose driver's licence was suspended, was nabbed for allegedly performing a six-metre burnout in the impoundment warehouse - when retrieving his car.

The car had earlier been seized for hoon offences committed by a friend.

The 18-year-old will face court on driving offences.

Police Assistant Commissioner (Traffic) Noel Ashby said the number of impoundments showed some drivers lacked maturity and commonsense.

"There have been a number of offences detected by police which demonstrate to us that some drivers have a complete disregard for the safety of others and for the law," he said.

"Many of these drivers simply lack maturity and commonsense."

One 20-year-old repeat offender from Seabrook was caught doing a burnout in suburban Altona on July 22 in another person's car.

The car was impounded and, three weeks later, the same man was allegedly caught fishtailing and speeding at 130km/h in a 60-zone at Werribee.

Other vehicles impounded included those of a driver and motorcyclist caught racing at speeds of up to 140km/h in a 70-zone at Dandenong.

Assistant Commissioner Ashby said hoon-related offences were extremely dangerous.

"Most drivers have been detected excessively speeding and police are pleased with the ability to swiftly remove these drivers from Victorian roads," he said.