We're over the hoon in Whittlesea
Mark Smith
01Jul08
Acting Sen-Sgt Geoff Joshua is taking a hard line on hoons.
Another one bites the dust...this car was impounded by police last week.
ATTENTION hoons: your kilometres are numbered.
That's the warning to Whittlesea drivers who continue to defy hoon laws despite startling statistics which reveal local police have seized more than 200 vehicles in the past two years.
The figures show that 207 cars and motorbikes have been impounded by police in a concentrated effort to stamp out hoon drivers from our roads since July 2006.
Of the four Whittlesea stations included in the statistics, Epping police lead the way with 150 vehicle seizures, followed by Mill Park with 44, Whittlesea with nine, and Wallan with four.
Epping traffic management unit Sen-Sgt Wayne Chatters believed the figures were among some of the highest in the state and were proof that problem drivers were being caught.
The statistics showed 98 drivers held full licences and 94 were on P-plates and five had learner permits. Another 10 were either unlicensed or disqualified.
Police seized 109 vehicles due to improper use of them (including 62 burnouts and 30 fish-tailing), and 79 for excessive speed.
Only two were for racing offences.
Holden was the model of choice for offenders with 83 cars nabbed, followed by 37 Fords and 30 Nissans. Of the motorbikes, Suzuki topped the list with seven impounds followed by Yamaha on six.
Epping traffic management unit Acting Sen-Sgt Geoff Joshua said the police would continue to use the big stick as long as they had to.
"We often get calls from the public saying they've identified hoon cars down their streets, and their concern is that were not getting to their streets to catch them doing it," he said.
"We do a lot of patrolling of main roads because that's were the accidents happen.
"Once they do it in the side streets, you can be assured that they are going to do it on the main roads.
"The public can rest assured that the people we are catching are the people driving in their streets."
By law, police can impound vehicles for 48 hours for a first offence, up to three months for a second offence and take permanent possession on the third strike.
HOON WATCH
Want to know if the hoon in your street has been caught?
The Whittlesea Leader has teamed up with Epping's traffic management unit to bring you regular photographs of impounded cars with a description of where they were caught.
It will run in coming editions of the Leader.
The first vehicle to have the dubious honour of appearing in Hoon Watch is a Holden Commodore (pictured above).
It was impounded after an 18-year-old driver was pulled over as part of a routine licence check on Edgars Rd, Thomastown, at 2.15pm on June 26.
The inspection found that the vehicle was unregistered and that the driver was a disqualified learner with priors in driving unaccompanied without displaying L-plates.
The vehicle was impounded until June 30 and the driver charged and summonsed to appear in court.
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