Victorian hoons to get cars impounded for 30 days, up from 48 hours
Anti-hoon laws in Victoria have just tightened up even further. First-offense hoon drivers will have their cars impounded for 30 days instead of the current 48 hours. The new laws will go into action as of July this year.
Second-time hooners will lose their cars for three months and risk having their car taken from them permanently if caught a third time. Victorian Roads Minister Terry Mulder recently said these new, more stringent changes will be the toughest laws to be put in place in the state, and he hopes it will send out a stern message to certain road users. Mulder said in a recent AAP report,
"It's going to hurt their pockets, it's going to have them on the footpath walking rather than driving, but we're determined to get on top of this."
Hoon driving includes burnouts, drag racing, repeated driving while disqualified, overloading passengers into cars and high-range speeding. According to the Victorian Police website, 'improper use of a motor vehicle' accounts for 48.4 percent of recorded hoon offenses. 'Excessive speed' closely follows, making up 39.3 percent. Interestingly, 'conduct, engage in race, speed trial' only accounts for 0.9 percent, while 'careless driving' only makes up three percent of recorded offenses.
The new laws were announced last night and could affect parents of hoon drivers as well. If a hoon is caught in their parent's car, it will be impounded as if it is their own car. Parents will then need to go to court to fight to get it back. Mulder said,
"The stigma of having your parents to have to go to the court and go through that process, you wouldn't want to be the young person involved in it."
After a hoon driver is convicted, he or she will also have to pay the costs of having the car towed and put into lockup, and could face a fine of up to $2389 if convicted of speeding 45km/h over the limit.
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