POLICE have begun "targeting" car enthusiast groups

[Quicksand]

Did a search and couldnt find this posted anywhere else. The lines between 'Hoon' and 'Enthusiast' continue to blur.

POLICE have begun "targeting" car enthusiast groups that allegedly ignore road laws, charging the head of a notorious Adelaide car club with an anti-hoon law that has not been used before.

All Car Club president and self-confessed "hoon" Peter Wayne Barnes is yet to plead to a charge of promoting an event involving the misuse of motor vehicles.

Barnes, 20, of Seaton, is the first person to be charged with the offence, which relates to a "car cruise" at Parafield in September last year.

Inspector Philip Newitt, officer in charge of the Major Crash section, yesterday said police will "continue to target and arrest the organisers of these illegal events".

"There is a clear intention from organisers to incite, solicit and encourage drivers to commit serious and dangerous traffic offences," he said.

Barnes, however, yesterday claimed the All Car Club no longer existed and that another popular cruise club, Ragers Commodore Klub, had barely 10 members - down from 400 a year ago.

He said police, who follow the cruises and impose unwarranted defect notices on roadworthy cars, were victimising him.

"They have won," he said. "People are too scared to come on the cruises now for the fear their car will be targeted by police."

Barnes is also listed as the creator of an anti-police Facebook page titled "I've been *************** over by the Taskforce Diagonal one too many times.!!!" The page, which berates the SA Police anti-hoon squad, has 173 members.

"Please let us know what happened and if u were a victim of there b*****(sic)", Barnes writes on the site. As part of his bail agreement, Barnes is not allowed to participate in "any kind of club cruise, most especially Ragers Commodore Klub and All Car Club."

A curfew prohibiting Barnes from being outside between 8pm and 7am also had been imposed, but was revoked last week.

Police recently laid charges against another man who allegedly is the head of South Australia's other main hoon car club.

Barnes has previously told The Advertiser "male testosterone" and the need to "show off" is behind his club's car cruises.

After a cruise in July, which involved about 250 cars, Barnes said he had told police "what happens when I finish the cruise is not on my shoulders", despite it shutting down sections of the highway and leaving it coated in oil and rubber.

He was also photographed participating in a "breakaway" group of the cruise where drivers took turns doing burnouts and "circle work" in a 100km/h zone.

"I'll admit that I'm a bit of a hoon," the Findon father of two said last July.

"I'll go to their burnout spots but I've got kids now and I'm back with my missus."

Barnes, who has previously lost his licence over traffic offences, also said the nights were about "showing what your car is made of".

"It's a bit of male testosterone my-car-is-better-than-your-car type of thing," he said. "It's fun. It's just showing what your car is made of. We're just letting off a bit of steam."

He faces a fine of up to $2500 as well as a licence disqualification if found guilty.

He will appear again in court next month.

Source: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/s...-1225870268546

[Iggypoppin']

I know the bloke quite well. He does a bit of unpaid work for a few official car meets. Won't mention too much. Ah well, he nails his own coffin a bit, but I hope for his kids sake he doesn't get locked up or anything silly like that. And hopefully he learns from now on..

[The Monty]

Cant blame the police for booking people for this sort of thing when people like this are trying to find ways to break the law.
And before anyone says that our clubs on here are any better, Ive been on cruises up here with people from a few of our QLD clubs, and on every cruise someone broke the law in one way or another, so again, cant blame the police for doing there job.

[Iggypoppin']

If you live in Adelaide, you know all about RCK and ACC. They really where just hoon cruises. I confess, I used to attend them quite a bit, but everyone who knows me knows I never participated in the stupidity. I was a bystander enjoying the hot nights and nice cars.

[Auturbo6]

Shouldn't be held responsible for others actions.. All i have to say.

[Professor Farnsworth]

pre-emptive warning, keep the thread at a mature level. It's fine so far, but we all know how these things turn out.

[Jimmyd]

This is the kind of thing that gives enthusiasts and car clubs a bad name and puts the heat on all of us - lets face it, if you think "showing what your car is made of" means throwing oil on a public road so you can burn some rubber you are simply an statisitic waiting to happen. This sort of crap is just plain stupidity - you want to do that kind of thing, go to an organised event where some modicum of saftey can be provided for the spectators, drivers and the general public.

Police are doing their job protecting the public from this kind of idiocy. This guy and the increasing number just like him need to grow up, seriously......

Cheers

James

[pottery beige]

little kids in their little toy cars.....

[JimNiki]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

little kids in their little toy cars.....

that can do REAL damage to REAL people and property! ...

[SVTVNM]

I think it would be fair to say that as unfair as some treatment by police might be their is an obviuos difference between a legitimate car club and one that is quite obvously a bunch of trouble making hoons. IMO

[pottery beige]

Even more reason to bust their chops...

[Matt47569]

half of the cars going on ACC and RCK cruises are thrashed out vn/vs commo's.. what annoys me about ACC is they publicly stated they were not a hoon club and were sick of being unfairly targetted then next week there's pictures of them in the paper chucking ringys on the the highway and in the middle of intersections

[geckoGT]

All I can say is the car is not made of much if it needs oil to break traction, lame!

The rest of it is just garbage, it is just the cops doing their job. If the guy is organising cruises which tolerates people doing burnouts, he is responsible and deserves what he gets.

Most legitimate car clubs expel members for such behaviour on publics roads. Those same clubs enjoy peace and quiet from the police and are generally left alone. In fact, many of these clubs have had Ford HWP cars shown at their shows.

[Spitfire 6.2]

Unfortunately it only takes 1 idiot on a cruise to do the wrong thing and it brings the whole group down.

[GK351]

Push down a bubble it will re-appear elsewhere.

[Raptor]

This headline is just aimed at stirring up trouble.

If that article is correct the police are just doing their job, enforcing the 'hoon' laws.

The unfortunate overlap that exists between that sort of behaviour and the much broader car enthusiast community thus becomes further blurred in the eyes of Joe Public.

This thread isn't going anywhere constructive, thus closed.