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Hoons, be warned: three strikes and parents lose car

Jason Dowling, State Politics
June 18, 2006
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PARENTS of hoon drivers could have the family car wheel-clamped in the backyard for three months or even lose it forever, under tough new anti-hoon laws that will come into effect within a fortnight.

The first that parents may know of the loss of the car is when police knock on the door, under tough new provisions that allow the impounding of cars up to 10 days after an offence.

Police Minister Tim Holding has also revealed that hoons would be targeted by Melbourne's extensive speed camera and closed-circuit television camera networks to help police identify vehicles to be impounded.

The laws will take effect in the early hours of Saturday, July 1, and the Police Minister said there would be no cooling-off period. "Anyone who gets caught under these new laws only has themselves to to blame," Mr Holding said.

Under the anti-hoon laws, which went through State Parliament in November, police will have the power to impound a vehicle for 48 hours for a first offence, three months for a second offence and seize the vehicle permanently for a third offence.

Mr Holding said a vehicle impounded for 48 hours would cost about $350 to have returned, while a three-month impounding could cost more than $1000. Towing costs would be added.

Vehicles could either be impounded immediately or have a wheel clamp applied at the offender's home.

The powerful new laws will not only target hoon activity such as doughnuts, burnouts and drag racing, they will also affect speeding motorists. Anyone caught doing 45kmh over the speed limit, or 145kmh or above in a 110 kmh zone, could also lose their car.

The Police Minister warned that the speeding side of the laws would affect many Victorians.

"Excessive speed, that is a big one and that is one where the police-discretion issue will work quite significantly because obviously a lot of people get caught travelling 45 kmh over the speed limit by police," he said.

But Mr Holding warned that the Parliament expected police to take a tough stance.

"We would expect police would impound vehicles in a high proportion of cases," he said.

He described the power to impound motor vehicles as "draconian" but said the community supported tougher action against hoons.

"I get a lot of letters from members of the public who are very concerned about hooning in their local community, dangerous driving and hooning, in particular, and I think giving police this extra power to be able to, in a sense, hit hoons where it hurts by taking their cars off them will be a very welcome measure," he said.

Motorists caught after July 1 repeatedly driving while disqualified also face losing their vehicles.

Mr Holding conceded that the harsh laws could affect families. "Young people should be given every opportunity to learn to drive responsibly, so having access to their parents' cars, where appropriate, is a good thing," he said. "However, parents and young drivers need to clearly get the message that driving is a privilege and not a right and if you drive in a grossly irresponsible way … you not only risk being charged but also losing your car," he said.

Later this week the Government will launch an advertising campaign on radio and in newspapers warning of the start of the new laws.

Opposition police spokesman Kim Wells said the laws had taken too long to arrive. "It is Liberal Party policy, now it is being implemented we think it will make Victorian roads safer."

javaman wrote:Does this mean motorbikes can be impounded for doing 45 over ? Not that I do those kind of things

Smitty wrote:

javaman wrote:Does this mean motorbikes can be impounded for doing 45 over ? Not that I do those kind of things

yep..ANYONE doing more than 45klicks over..is dead meat

this law btw just brings Vic into line with the rest of the country
all the states now have anti-hoon impounding laws

mrmina wrote: well as a law abiding citizen, i wont be doing 45km/h over the limit

Stace wrote:

mrmina wrote: well as a law abiding citizen, i wont be doing 45km/h over the limit

You have to RIDE before you can speed mate

Stace wrote:

mrmina wrote: well as a law abiding citizen, i wont be doing 45km/h over the limit

You have to RIDE before you can speed mate

Stace wrote:

mrmina wrote: well as a law abiding citizen, i wont be doing 45km/h over the limit

You have to RIDE before you can speed mate

Neka79 wrote:glad im not in vic..mind u im pretty sure the laws been in nsw and sa for years??...

Smitty wrote:

Stace wrote:

mrmina wrote: well as a law abiding citizen, i wont be doing 45km/h over the limit

You have to RIDE before you can speed mate

gotta find the bike first......

Stereo wrote:Whats the bet that the police can impound your vehicle on the spot...

Which means that if you go to court and WIN your case, you will STILL be up for a towing and storage fee...

How do you spell revenue raising again?

Dont get me wrong, I think its ok for the police to impound vehicles.... But you should get to defend yourself in court before they get to do it......

This stuff makes me so mad! Here we are, living in a country where the minister of transport gets a slap on the wrist after drunk driving.... and in some cases rapists get less than a year in jail, thieves are let off even though there is plenty of evidence...... and they bring in crappy new laws like these, where the police get to meet out justice on the spot, without a trial.... f*cking frustratest me..... and probably most police aswell.....

This kind of thing could happen:
If I was to have my vehicle inpounded for some reason.... lets say that some policeman decides my exhaust is too loud..... I dont have the money to get it out of impound to get it out this week..... so I have to wait until I get paid in a fourtnights time....at this time it has gone up to $500... so I dont have the money... so I have to wait another 2 weeks at which point it is $1000 dollars..... Thats ridiculous... The fact that they have taken your vehicle is enough punishment.... The impound cost should be a fixed price.... say $200