By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Six drivers were pinged for excessively loud vehicles during an anti-hoon operation in Springvale.
The pro-active Operation Unison was launched to “put the brakes” on honing at a notorious hotspot at Springvale Mega Centre’s car park on Thursday 26 May.
It was jointly run by Victoria Police and Environment Protection Authority Victoria.
The six drivers received noisy-vehicle testing notices requiring them to fix the noise and produce a certificate of compliance to the EPA.
A driver with an automatic licence condition was fined for driving a manual vehicle, and another vehicle copped a defect notice.
Senior Sergeant Luke Holmes of Victoria Police said local police and highway patrol members had regularly patrolled hot spots such as the Springvale shopping centre off Princes Highway.
“The intensive focus in the area has resulted in a decrease in hoon activity in the area.
“We are determined to put the brakes on hoon gatherings before they take place and where possible, police will look to work collaboratively with our partner agencies to target vehicles involved in intentional high-risk driving.”
Since mid-2021, residents have pleaded for a crackdown on hoons in the car park.
They say they are regularly kept awake by the sounds of revving and backfiring cars and cheering crowds.
Operation Unison was in support of an existing anti-hoon blitz Operation Achilles across Melbourne since July.
In that time, 240 drivers were charged with 1352 hooning offences, and 155 vehicles impounded.
Police executed 48 search warrants, issued 766 fines and 144 unroadworthy notices.
