Hoons off the roads

By Bridget Cook
TOUGH new hoon laws have not deterred some Casey hoons from breaking the law.
The new dangerousdriving laws, which came into effect on Friday, give police on-the-spot power to impound vehicles for 30 days, instead of 48 hours under the previous legislation.
Additional offences have also been added to the vehicle impoundment scheme, with repeat drug driving, drink driving and unlicensed driving offenders, and drivers carrying more passengers than there are seats available, now at risk of having their car impounded.
Since Friday, two Casey drivers have already had the vehicles impounded.
Casey Highway Patrol intercepted a man on the Princes Highway in Narre Warren doing 152km/h in an 80km/h zone at 9.45pm on Friday night – less than 24 hours after the laws were brought in.
The 39-year-old man from Beaconsfield was driving an unregistered Holden Monaro with false plates.
He lost his licence on the spot for 12 months, received $2200 in fines and had his car impounded for 30 days.
Springvale police stopped a Blind Bight woman who was driving while disqualified in Cleeland Street, Dandenong, at 9pm on Friday night.
The 58-year-old women also had her car impounded for a month, was fined $836 and will face court.
South Eastern Metropolitan Region MP Inga Peulich said drivers caught hooning would now be subject to the harshest consequences Victoria has seen.
“The 30-day impoundment period will provide a much stronger deterrent to hoon behaviour and it is anticipated to reduce offence rates,” she said.
She said the previous 48-hour impoundment period did not provide a strong enough disincentive for hooning behaviour and many hoons had seen it as a badge of honour.
“We are aiming to minimise the rate hoons re-offend to send a clear message that the Baillieu Government and the Casey community has zero-tolerance for hoons.”
Some 401 motorists in the City of Casey have been caught on hoon-related offences between July 2006 and 30 April 2011.