New Hoon Laws in QLD

[csv8]

Serial hoons in Queensland will have their cars crushed or sold after new laws passed in state parliament.

Police Minister Jack Dempsey says the laws are the toughest in the country and will stop people driving recklessly and street racing.

Officers from the Logan, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast police districts can lay claim to having seized the highest number of vehicles under existing anti-hooning laws in the past year.

Police responded to 83 incidents of hooning in Logan in the past 12 months, confiscating 70 vehicles.
Advertisement

More than 50 vehicles were impounded on the Gold and Sunshine coasts.

Across Brisbane, 63 vehicles were seized from hoons in the same period.

Under the new laws, a first offence will result in a hoon’s car being taken off the roads, while a second offence within five years will see the car either sold or crushed.

‘‘We are telling the people of Queensland that the police now have the legislative tools to truly put the brakes on hoons,’’ Mr Dempsey said in a statement.

“In the past we have even seen hoons lose control of their vehicles before ploughing into yards and houses injuring and, in some cases, taking the lives of innocent people.’’

The two strikes approach will apply to those committing Type 1 offences which include:

Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle
Racing and speed trials on roads
Wilfully starting a motor vehicle or driving a motor vehicle in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke
Evade police

The laws will come into effect in six months time.

The minister urges people who have a local hooning issue to contact their nearest police station or the Hoon Hotline: 13HOON (13 4666).
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/quee...417-2hz10.html