Acting SergeantBy Sarah Schwager
DANDENONG police have welcomed the introduction of legislation combating hoons and street dragracers.
The legislation, introduced into State Parliament on Wednesday, 26 October will see drivers caught drag racing, performing ‘burnouts’ or engaging in other dangerous ‘hoon’ acts face having their cars impounded, immobilised or permanently confiscated.
Sergeant Harry Bradshaw from the Dandenong Traffic Management Unit said the Road Safety (Vehicle Impoundment Amendment) Bill could be a good step in the right direction.
“Anything that can reduce drag racing, and especially the high fatalities and idiot behaviour can only be positive,” Sgt Bradshaw said.
He said the road toll in the outer southeast division compared with last year was ‘phenomenal’, with 36 dead so far, including 12 in Greater Dandenong, three up on last year.
He said Casey was up five and Cardinia was up three.
Sgt Bradshaw said with the new legislation, parents might think otherwise about letting their children drive.
“We have to do something to reduce high speed driving,” he said.
“There’s always been a problem for the last four years. It’s never ending.
“We use whatever we can to combat what’s occurring and creating a nuisance on the road and a danger to other drivers.”
Sgt Bradshaw said in conjunction with driver education programs, the legislation could be very effective.
He said the RoadSafe ‘Fit to Drive’ program had made a big impact among students.
The course, offered to year 11 students, shows the outcomes of speeding, including what happens after a crash when emergency services arrive.
The CFA cut up a car, mimicking cutting people out of a car after a crash, while ambulance officers explain their job, including decisions they have to make about who to save first, that is, who has more chance of living.
Sgt Bradshaw said officers also explained the impact accidents had on emergency services workers and how tragic it could be for them.
He said this year, nine schools in the area, as well as the Noble Park and Springvale Adult Multicultural Education Services (AMES) had taken part in the program.
“I’d like to leave this job in a couple of years knowing I’ve made a difference.”
Acting Sergeant of Casey Traffic Management Unit Mal Marsden said hoon drivers had recently hit the industrial estates in Hallam hard and the bitumen had been permanently blackened with burnout marks.
“In general hooning has been around for years and the drivers are very well organised.
Regular crowds are forming but most are not from within the area,” he said. Sgt Bradshaw said the police’s next focus would be Operation Antlers, targeting drivers leaving Christmas parties in the last week before Christmas.
The antihoon driving regime will come into effect on July 1 next year.
