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Mass public support for the war on scumbags

David Penberthy

by David Penberthy

27 Apr 06:00am

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Filed under: Crime, Hoons, Road Safety, Society, Violence

163 comments

The most terrifying moment of my life was about six years ago in broad daylight on a back street of Sydney’s inner-west when I was pushing my then baby daughter in the pram on a walk to the local shops.

Illustration: Igor Saktor, News Limited.

We’d just turned a corner and were crossing the normally quiet street when a bloke in a souped-up Ford muscle car came fanging around the curve on the wrong side of the road, forcing me to yank the pram backwards with and jump on to the footpath.

As I did this I shouted “Hey!” at the top of my voice and waved a fist in his direction. He slammed on the brakes, reversed at speed, and pulled up right next to the pram. “Did you say something arsehole?” he asked.

“No,” I lied, staring straight back at him.

“You did, didn’t you? What did you say?”

“Mate, I was talking to my daughter. I was just crossing the road.”

The guy stared back at me. He had a woman with him in the passenger seat, presumably his girlfriend, and at the time I remember thinking it was unlikely that he’d get out of the car and bash me to a pulp in front of her, especially as I had the added insurance of a baby.

But this bloke was so off the richter scale that it wouldn’t have surprised me if he did. He was the kind of macho man who would probably have thought his girlfriend would be turned on by an act of random brutality. Maybe she would have been.

So I just stood there motionless, half expecting him to get out the car, wondering what the hell I’d do next, armed as I was like some inner city nancy boy with a green recycling shopping bag and a takeaway flat white.

He kept staring at me for what felt like five minutes. Eventually he said: “This is your lucky you day, you piece of shit” and dropped the clutch and sped off.

I felt like I was going to spew up. And I remember fantasing that, if there really was a kind and all-powerful God, he’d see to it that once this bloke gunned the right-hand turn onto Parramatta Rd, he’d wrap himself around a telegraph pole, instantly making the world a much happier place.

This encounter changed my subsequent behaviour in that I no longer shout our honk at arseholes on the road. You read enough stories about people being knocked out with a wheel brace for firing up at a random hoon to know that it is not worth the risk. (In passing, this is what strikes me as the most reckless aspect of those daft RTA small penis speeding advertisements, in that they encourage law-abiding motorists to engage in a form of teasing which could quite easily land them in hospital, or possibly even a cemetery.)

But I’ve thought about this episode a number of times and discussed it with friends, some of whom have similar stories to tell. Experiences of this nature are not only depressingly commonplace, the fear that they will one day happen to you also seems to be widespread.

To this end, I felt a real twinge of self-recognition reading the report yesterday of a new study called the April 2010 Mind and Mood Survey, which is based on a series of lengthy focus group discussions conducted by public affairs firm Ipsos Mackay.

The Mind and Mood survey is an interesting form of social research in that it serves as a handy snapshot of what’s on our minds.

The April 2010 survey shows that we aren’t tossing and turning at night worrying that we are going to lose our jobs because of the lingering after-effects of the global financial crisis. We are concerned about cost of living issues. We are worried about the state of the health system. And we are irritated, almost to the point of pre-occupation, by what could best be described as quality of life issues such as bullying, random violence, hoon behaviour and street crime, with many of us now regarding society as a daily contest between the civilised and the uncivilised.

“Emanating from the same premise – that participants are living in an aggressive, more violent society – was the belief that some individuals are now engaging in new, premeditated acts of violence, such as knifing and glassing,” the report reads.

The surveys were conducted in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle and Ballarat, and while it is not stated in the report, it would not be surprising if that sentiment was most pronounced in the bigger of these cities.

The backdrop to the responses is a kind of pragmatic defeatism, in that sensible people recognise that there is only so much that society can do to stamp out anti-social behaviour.

One good current example is the commendable “I Promise” campaign by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph to discourage hoon driving by urging motorists to sign a pledge not to drink drive, not to speed, not to be aggressive on the roads.

The campaign has succeeded in attracting tens of thousands of pledges and encouraged wider debate about responsibility on the roads – but I am sure the depressing reality is that the bulk of the people who have signed are already considerate and thoughtful drivers, rather than drongos such as my mate in the souped-up Ford who have experienced a life-changing epiphany.

This gulf in behaviour is also highlighted in today’s Daily Telegraph where court reporter Lisa Davies interviews NSW Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson about that hard core of recidivist drink-drivers who refuse to acknowledge the dangers of their ways.

But for all this defeatism, there is a strong message for government from this Ipsos report, which any political party with a good feel for public sentiment could readily turn into voter support.

Clearly there is a mainstream view that whatever can be done should be done to legislate against anti-social behaviour.

There’s a tendency for measures such as bans on glass in pubs, lockouts on opening hours or blitzes on hoon drivers to be attacked either as an infringement on civil liberties or dismissed as cheap election cycle populism.

The Ipsos report suggests that these qualms are not shared by the law-abiding majority, and that governments and oppositions are mistaken if they regard these issues as second-tier issues.

The idea of crushing confiscated cars might be attacked by some as an assault on personal freedoms or cheap political gimmickry.

But in the case of my mate in the Ford, I’m all for it – and on that day in 2004, with the added proviso that he was still behind the wheel. 

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Most commented

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24612 bigger issues than gay change and climate marriage
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224Punch on: Open thread 17/05/2012
215Punch on: Open thread 18/05/2012

163 comments

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    • Eric says:

      06:37am | 27/04/10

      Possibly a lack of positive role models in young boys’ lives - in the form of fathers and male teachers - could be responsible for some of the hoonish activity. As men are marginalised in society, so the cultivation of proper manlike behaviour is no longer ingrained.

      As for those daft RTA small penis speeding advertisements, I wonder if they may contribute to the problem rather than being a part of the solution. After all, they are basically insults to manhood, and insults make people angry.

      It’s also a reflection of the anti-male bias in our society that government advertising sees fit to mock men’s sexuality - you would hardly see a similar shaming tactic being directed at women.

      Reply

    • Anne71 says:

      11:47am | 27/04/10

      Wow. An article about bogans and scumbags in our society and their anti-social behaviour and you straight away turn it around and blame it all on some “anti-male bias”. Nothing to do with the fact that parents and teachers are not allowed to discipline children any more, with the result that they grow up thinking that the world revolves around them and that they can do whatever they want without repercussions. Nothing to do with a piss-weak judiciary that allows people to literally get away with murder. Nothing to do with an entertainment industry that glamorises violence.  No, it’s all the fault of them evil feministas and that Anti-Male Bias. You really make me laugh!

    • David says:

      01:32pm | 27/04/10

      Eric, I agree that we need more positive male role models, especially in the form of teachers.

      However, to suggest that men are marginalised is pure fiction.

      Have you had a look recently at the gender of most politicians, police, judges, top 500 company CEOs, senior public servants, sports profressionals, etc (ie, anyone in a position of power)?

      I don’t know about you, but, as a man, I reckon we’re doing pretty well.

      That’s not to say that there aren’t areas of society and culture where men’s rights and influence could be improved (eg, health and family law).

      But, a bit of balance, eh mate?

      As for Penbo’s article, I agree mate.  Squash their cars and make ‘em cry!

    • Eric says:

      02:37pm | 27/04/10

      David, don’t confuse the tiny minority of men at the top of the heap, with the vast majority who are just getting along.

      Those legislators and judges and academics and journalists on their $100k-plus salaries are quite willing to sell every other man down the river, as long as they can get their slice of the profits.

    • Freda says:

      08:46pm | 27/04/10

      Yeah mate, the driver of that Ford would make a great role model for any young boy…NOT. Unfortunately this is why many men are denied access to children.

    • Eric says:

      07:47am | 28/04/10

      Your misandrist comment misses the point, Freda. The driver of the Ford probably lacked any good male role models, and is hardly suitable to be one.

      But keep on pushing fathers out of families, as you wish. Over the years, your attitude will produce many, many more violent hoons.

    • Risk says:

      11:59pm | 28/04/10

      No, what is responsible for the tripe being imposed on the rest of us by these low lifes is A.D.D or Adult Discipline Disorder.  Reliance on drugs to control children whilst neutering teachers and parents of the right to impose rules and enforce them.  As for speeding drivers.  Well you reap what you sow.  Pity some of us end up dead at their hands.  I thank God every time one of these invertebrates kills themselves.  Means I might be able to survive a Sydney street with a higher chance of getting to where I am going more safely.

    • Markster says:

      07:42am | 27/04/10

      They terrorise quiet suburbs wrap themselves around a pole or similar and then have the scene of their predictable demise turned into a memorial!!!  Stop glorifying them and pull down all these roadside memorials for a start!  They are a constant reminder of the shattering and subjugation to fear, of quiet peaceful neighbourhoods!  Next step is prevention.  In what alternate mind set is it ok to Hoon and terrorise average people as a right?  Portable crushing units! Make them watch as the neighbourhood cheer the removal of their precious toy.  Maybe just maybe they will finally realise that it is not ok and that they are the ones out of step with a peace loving society.

      Reply

    • Bethany says:

      03:14pm | 27/04/10

      Portable crushing units!
      I love it!

    • WKH says:

      07:48am | 27/04/10

      Iv’e lived in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. They are now scary places that I would never want to bring a child up in and I feel for those that feel the same but are stuck. I remember on one occasion being surrounded by a group of thugs in the Bankstown shopping centre car park in Sydney.  At the risk of being non politically correct, I will say they didn’t speak very good English and they seemed very offended that I did. I too was scared David and I am so glad I didn’t have one of my children with me. I was at that point when I thought this is it, I’m in for a flogging and a police car drove up the ramp. Without being flagged down they stopped right beside us. I realized then just how obvious it was that I was out of my area. They could see it and they saved me from a hiding. Never went back to the Bankstown shopping centre even though I worked only a couple of klms up the road from it.
      Found my piece of paradise on a few acres in central QLD way. You lot can keep your city life and all that goes with it. I try to avoid going anywhere near it if at all possible. There is just know RESPECT anymore…..It all goes back to the education system, or lack of. The “doo gooders” changed it and this is the consequence.

      Reply

    • KH says:

      07:58am | 27/04/10

      It is not now, nor has it ever been, the ‘education system’s’ responsibility to teach people manners.  That is the parents job.  If there is anyone to blame, it is the bogans who brought up these lowlifes.

    • Tone says:

      08:33am | 27/04/10

      WKH, the teachers cop abuse & treats, like David Penberthy, if they confront the bogan kids - from both the kids and the parents

    • WKH says:

      08:36am | 27/04/10

      I think your wrong KH. A teacher, especially a primary school teacher normally spends more time with a child than it’s parents do. Our education system creates the young adults of the future. Spare the rod and spoil the child…which is exactly what has happened. School is where you learn mostly what you can and can’t get away with.  When Mr silver, my science teacher when I was a kid wanted the classes attention he got it. Damn that man could give out the cuts better than any other teacher I knew. He had the power and he used it. Reckon he saved a few young ones in his time..Brilliant teacher but..

    • Jones says:

      09:11am | 27/04/10

      So, you think the child should just wander around making its own rules up for the first four years of its life?

    • Daniel says:

      11:54pm | 27/04/10

      WKH that is such a sad story, and I can appreciate your tactfullness. Yours is one specific example where David I think was being general. But I think it warrants a comment. I agree the education system is a critical aspect but perhaps not in the way you intended. When I went to school I got the sense that certain people (not all) who were clearly from another ethnic background were ignored or baited, or chose not to associate with the aussie elements in the school. Either way there was a degree of segregation. So in my era you had what I would describe as a group (not a cohesive one) who were marginalised by their peers, so any wonder that there were fights between their strong representatives and the “aussie” representatives.  Fast forward to today and they are more cohesive, (power in numbers) and apparently are more willing to assert themselves in all the wrong ways. Seeking some form of identity that they can claim as their own, it’s probably not surprising that in some cases they adopt the values of countries they know little about, if in fact they’ve ever been there. I agree broadly that we need to take a harder line with all hooliganism and particularly public aggression, road rage etc. And in your very unfortunate example there are some other things to look at as well.

    • Amelia says:

      07:24pm | 29/04/10

      As a parent, I consider it primarily MY responsibility to raise my kids with decent manners. It is the education system’s job merely to reinforce these lessons. I believe children should start kindy already having good idea of basic manners and respect - eg please and thank you, respect for others property, and what behaviour is unacceptable (yelling, swearing, hitting, etc)  Teachers already have a difficult, demanding job (underapid and understaffed), without having to deal with children who have no concept of manners or appropriate behaviour. The sad thing is these children will grow up and wonder why nobody likes them.

    • fd says:

      12:21pm | 30/04/10

      KH, there was indeed an era were schools did teach manners, I remember quite clearly in early 70’s attending a catholic primary school, st patricks launceston, ol’ mrs steel (steelo to us) taught ‘Etiquette’ class! wow i know!
      There is indeed a culture now of what i refer to as the olympic’s of rudeness, and many are going for gold! and i know some cultures/people are very suspicious of manners, and somehow see a sinister side to being polite and civil, and smacks of english-ness - and indeed mock them openly, as in their cultures you are only obliged to be polite and respectful to your parents and to lesser degree other immediate family.
      regarding muscle cars and hoons, i am in two minds, as i have many dependant on the aussie car industry for livelihood, and everytime i have a hoon speeding past my house in a V8 trying to break land speed records, i am torn bittersweetly between thinking oh well least they are still buying them, and reporting them.

    • Russell says:

      07:54am | 27/04/10

      Similar story: But I was stupid enough to not only yell but bang the scumbag’s car with my hand. The car screeched to a halt, and five d__heads got out intent on serious damage. Fortunately they hadn’t parked, and the blocked cars all honked and yelled. So one of the thugs (the “sensible” one) decided to call my immolation off. ““Leave the faggot alone. he’s not worth it”

      Another time on Norton St and Parramatta Rd (maybe the same thug as you, Pendo?) a muscle car was so intent on showing how fast he could do the turn, that he fish-tailed, did a 360, and slammed into a post.

      There is justice in this world, sometimes…

      Reply

    • Patrick says:

      10:00am | 28/04/10

      You should see ‘em down here in Hobart. The amount of times I’ve had people I’ve never seen before jump out of a car and run after me and my mates while we’re on the main road walking to the shops or back home is just crazy.

      There’s a 1km stretch of the road out to the northern suburbs of Hobart that has so many broken eggs smeared into the footpath, broken bottles smashed into the walls and walkways, and random assaults are quite common, and it’s getting worse and worse as kids get their P plates and start “cruising” looking for fights with 6 of their mates packed into their little hatchback with neon lights.

      Although at least the police know about it, I’ve been stopped and searched THAT many times walking from the shops to home that nowadays I just greet the officers by name most of the time. Pity they’re never around when the bogans are though..

    • FredK says:

      08:02am | 27/04/10

      Get their number plate and report that and the incident to police. 

      Try to get the police to follow up.

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      08:41am | 27/04/10

      Damn right, Fred.

      The do-goders and civil libertarians have so frightened the police into inaction, that you might as well just whistle in the wind.

      When crims and hoons are afraid - genuinely afraid - of the police, then we’ll have our streets back.

    • FredK says:

      09:28am | 27/04/10

      Peter, I did mean to actually report the number plate, and to follow-up with phone calls to the police.  I know these incidents are are drain on them, yet we should complain if they don’t follow-up, as these louts are likely to be current or future law-breakers anyway.

    • Patrick says:

      10:05am | 28/04/10

      Problem is Fred, unless you have been assaulted and are bleeding or bruised, they’ll tell you they can’t do anything.

      Happened to me many times down here in Hobart, I’ve had to run into a service station that’s close to my house to escape louts on at least 10 occasions, and if I ever call the police and get them to come out, the most they can do is take a description of the car and give me a lift home if I want.. Even the time I gave them three names of the people who were assaulting me (it is Hobart, so every now and then you are going to know them) I was told there’s nothing they can do because they have no proof, and that I should take a few more blows next time to give my case some weight (not in those exact words but that was the gist)

    • Kate Southam says:

      08:15am | 27/04/10

      Fantastic piece David. Spot on. Perhaps this is the price of being in a fast growing city - to hell with the rules and a sense of fair play if that means having your needs met instantly. And forget people fessing up if confronted - no, they are more likely to swear, shout or - as happened to you - be threatened. When I lived in the affluent Sydney suburb of Mosman
      I was screamed at (“yelling” doesn’t cover it) for waving my hands in a friendly way at a female driver in a BMW who was backing into my car while parking (Mosman is the home of the “crunch parking” house frau afterall) .

      I also frequented a cafe in Raglan Street flanked by a bus stop and post box. A car park was immediately opposite. Yet day after day expensive cars would shun the car park and thumb their nose at the posties and bus passengers as they parked closest to the cafe - with kids in tow - to get coffee. Their kids are learning that the rules are only there for other people. Now in the Inner West, I saw a guy in a brand new Range Rover go down a major one way street the wrong way so he could swing into a shopping car park without having to drive around the block. Totally dangerous. Bogans drive expensive cars as well as suped up Fords.

      Reply

    • Matt Dee says:

      08:19am | 27/04/10

      Good article David, however your voice is a lone one amongst the majority of society. I for one feel that society is a contest between the civilised and the uncivilised and that by no means relates to the rich verses the poor. We as a so called civilised society have allowed this to happen with an ever so gradual erosion of law and order, and discipline on our youth. The scales of justice have clearly been tipped in favor of these scumbags. These wild animals of our society have no fear of consequence.

      Reply

    • MakeMyDay! says:

      08:31am | 27/04/10

      We should all be allowed to carry a taser gun for protection for individual street assaults and perhaps have an AK 47 mounted on the bonnet to take out the “Scumbags” on the road…...Ha Ha… the creeps would probably have a bigger taser an get me first knowing my luck!!!
      It is too late, crime and violence has travelled too far along the out of control lane.  NO turning back now!
      Magistrates are the cause of the problem, whilst they indulge themselves in their rarefied air, they never come down and check out the real world.
      If punishment was handed out more regularly and mongrels were named at any age, perhaps this problem wouldn’t be as bad in Australia as it is today.  Respect is not taught to many young people today. [Sadly]
      The previous blogger who has moved to central Qld..good luck to you. I have just spent several weeks at a glorious coastal spot in FNQ and I can’t believe how decent and friendly the locals are. Will be back and soon.  Can’t tell you where it is, it’s a secret!!! Don’t want all the riff-raff here!!

      Reply

    • Daniel says:

      08:32am | 27/04/10

      You were lucky David. I no longer yell at dopes either in Australia. Since the Howard government left us Australia has really become an uncaring society where people just think they can do anything that suits them. Its this individualism that John Howard fostered that is to blame I think.

      Reply

    • Henry says:

      02:24pm | 27/04/10

      You are kidding right?

      I would bet that 99% of all hoons and thugs are rolled-gold ALP voters.

      Its the ALP welfare ghettos that have created thug culture.

    • Stephen Fitzpatrick says:

      03:57pm | 27/04/10

      Actually Henry, if you talked to a bogan I think you would find that they thought very highly of Howard, mostly because of his racist ‘we decide who comes here’ immigration policy and his ‘how about a new plasma to go with that new baby or two or three (never mind how many dads!)’ welfare policy. I’d be a fool not to take your bet, and I would also wager that you would back away from it since you’re clearly the type who rushes to the keyboard to blame the ALP at every oportunity. Did you blame the volcano on the ALP too?

      Daniel, your spot on. Excessive individualism is at the root of this anti-social behaviour, many of these thugs believe that branding themselves with the southern cross gives them the right to do whatever they want, and that is squarely at Howards feet.

    • Jeremy says:

      10:32pm | 27/04/10

      Stephen Fitzpatrick - you are of course correct. I couldn’t have put it better myself. Henry is living in fantasy land.

    • Josef says:

      04:48pm | 28/04/10

      I agree with Henry and disagree with Stephen. It all depends on where you live of course. I personally have never had someone with a Southern Cross tattoo give me trouble, but I have had several problems with the ‘macho culture’ from those of certain other ethnicities.

      The reason Howard was successful with his ‘racist’ talk was because of so many people’s bad experiences with this hooliganism from recent immigrants from the 1980s and their offspring. It’s in respsonse to this behaviour that young anglos feel the need to get tattooed with nationalist symbols and protect each other. They are merely mimicking the behaviour of chauvinistic immigrants.

      It may be different in places like Penrith and Cronulla, but the vast majority of anti social ‘bogan’ behaviour in the rest of Sydney is not perpetrated by Anglos or Europeans.

    • Morgan says:

      08:34am | 27/04/10

      While not advocating violence the best thing you could have done Pembo is stroll over to the drivers side door and start punching this jerk in the face as many times as you could. People like him are actually begging you to do this to them.

      The loudest and most threatening people are usually pussy’s and need to be shown every once in a while. If you had broken his nose and knocked out a few teeth you might have saved the next person this jerk went after by making him think twice. The dangerous people in life are the quiet ones!

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      09:08am | 27/04/10

      Morgan,

      I completely agree with your sentiments regarding inflicting pain on idiots like those David has experienced.
      Unfortunately the sad part is that if you had taken the next step it would be you would be charged, placed in front of the courts and receive some form of punishment. You would also probably see the idiot concerned justify his intial actions on a poor upbringing, some previously undiagnosed ADHD (it is amazing how these things come up in fornt of a judge), or a combination of a dozen other excuses for not taking personal responsibility.
      That is the downside of doing something to someone who actually dererves it.

    • Al says:

      09:11am | 27/04/10

      I’m sure he’d have ended up in prison and branded a racist for doing that

    • Castro says:

      09:24am | 27/04/10

      I’m with Morgan. 

      The problem is not parents, teachers, or the Howard Government (how about the clown that said?) that other commenters blamed above.

      WE are to blame for becoming so soft that we put up with this crap.  The middle classes in the post-modern Western world are so ridden with guilt we refuse to act even when it is obvious we are losing our safety and even our very society itself.

      We need to harden up and take action ourselves and ignore the do-gooders and moral lecturers. 

      Smacking that bloke in the mouth would have been a good start.  If you were too scared to do so, how dare you blame other people?

    • AEK says:

      09:44am | 27/04/10

      Let’s not forget that David had his pram-aged child with him.  Maybe if I was out walking by myself, that would be an option.  But, frankly, my top priority in a situation like that would be my child’s safety.

    • LC says:

      11:47am | 12/05/11

      Maybe Morgan, but:

      1. He had a child with him.
      2. You never know which of these thugs have a knife, gun, baton or other weapon under their seat.
      3. If he got lucky and the guy was unarmed, it’d most likely be him that comes off 2nd best in court, as it wouldn’t be able to plead self defense unless he was physically attacked first.

    • Seano says:

      08:44am | 27/04/10

      One of the worst things you can do driving in Sydney is to sound your horn when someone nearly wipes you out with a piece of insane or selfish driving. I spend a lot of time driving in Sydney and have been the victim and seen it happen where the nutjob takes exception to being parpped and will do all sorts of crazy stuff to get revenge. Including stopping short suddenly, dangerously, veering in and out of your lane, tail gating and making threatening gestures. I’m sure there have been plenty of others who have experienced worse.

      What I’d like to see to stop this sort of thing happening is more police on the road. I think this is a growing problem and the current government is not doing anything about it.

      I am undecided on who I am going to vote for in NSW. Although even as a someone most often identified with the left, it wont be Labor. If the Liberals actually came up with a sensible policy to make our roads safer especially through police enforcement I will vote for them. Of course if I do end up voting Liberal somewhere very hot must have gotten suddenly very cold.

      Reply

    • Super D says:

      08:59am | 27/04/10

      This is a result of law enforcement that is all velvet glove and no iron fist.  There is a growing element in our community that think they can do whatever they like, whenever they want and stuff the impact on everyone else.  The pendulum has swung too far in putting the rights of the individual above the rights of the community.  This has foolishly been labelled as progressive even though the every man for himself society it encourages is clearly a step backwards.

      In reintroducing the iron fist of enforcement to those who use violence the reintroduction of corporal punishment is long overdue.

      Reply

    • Super D says:

      08:59am | 27/04/10

      This is a result of law enforcement that is all velvet glove and no iron fist.  There is a growing element in our community that think they can do whatever they like, whenever they want and stuff the impact on everyone else.  The pendulum has swung too far in putting the rights of the individual above the rights of the community.  This has foolishly been labelled as progressive even though the every man for himself society it encourages is clearly a step backwards.

      In reintroducing the iron fist of enforcement to those who use violence the reintroduction of corporal punishment is long overdue.

      Reply

    • Henrietta says:

      09:24am | 27/04/10

      Never confront fools with violence, even though many men would have been tempted to give him a good belt around the chops. Get his license plate number , car make and rego and call the Police. You never know if someone like that has a knife under the seat. I am horrified by the violence Australia seems to be having, everytime I turn on the tv it seems, someone is murdered or attacked. I was recently coming home from the shopping center and my car stalled at the lights, I tried quickly to restart it, but I was not quick enough for a young man in the car behind me. He was shouting abuse and red faced started to get out of his car, I was seriously frightened I am not a young woman, when fortunatly my car engine restarted and I was able to go. In years gone by men only got out of a car to help you.!!

      Reply

    • Gene Hunt says:

      03:11pm | 27/04/10

      If Aussie news frightens you, don’t read the Pommie papers then - you’ll get the vapours at the daily murder and mayhem going on there. Then again, they’ve been heading down the PC track longer than Aus.

    • Tony says:

      09:46am | 27/04/10

      Why are we talking about hoon drivers like they are the biggest problem? They are not. It is the recently arrived cultures, starting from when certain ALP leaders opened the doors to the people from the Middle East in a branch stacking manoeuvre. Just come over to Adelaide and watch gangs of sullen Somalians wandering down the backstreets comparing knives. There have been COUNTLESS stabbings involving these people and at least three deaths in the past year but , in the name of PC, the authorities simply say they have had a tough life and let them back out onto the streets, where AUSTRALIANS fear for their lives.

      Reply

    • Luke says:

      01:33pm | 27/04/10

      Australian Protectionist Party is distributing Pamphlets about the Truth of the Violence by South African Immigrants and the PC Brigade brand the Party Racist when they are stating the facts The PC needs to be put down so we can regain control of our Country

    • Dan the Man says:

      05:24pm | 27/04/10

      “COUNTLESS stabbings” yes, those cursed Somalians!! You better watch out for any of those, shifty-eyed, thieving middle-easterners with their strange foreign culture and their non-English accents! They are the root of all this moral breakdown in our society and the reason for all our ills! God save the Queen, royal Brittania and all that, old bean. Somebody should really see to colonising that lot and showing them who is boss.

      Seriously. Can you take your misguided opinion to a more fitting website? Your comment is racist, bigoted, generalising, stereotyping…the list goes on. Now allow me to stereotype YOU. My guess is you are white, Anglo-Saxon, over the age of forty (though I imagine around 60+), don’t speak a word of another language other than glorious English (I mean, why bother really??) and who has never been outside Australia. Disturbingly similar? Do us all a favour and leave now.

    • Tony says:

      05:48am | 28/04/10

      To Dan - about the only thing you got right is that I am 40+. Everything else is wrong.  Just search on the web for reports about the stabbings and killings.

    • Dan The Man says:

      10:05am | 28/04/10

      Tony: Whether I’m right or wrong abuot your demographic is irrelevant. You are pigeonholing an entire group based on the behaviour of some. surely I dont need to spoonfeed you to explain the various issues that arise from this…?

    • Gra Gra says:

      10:06am | 27/04/10

      A couple of comments touch briefly on the real problem. Blame parents, teachers, pollies, the church, the universe being out of whack, or even the kids themselves. That’s easy. The problem though is that we are all at fault. We ‘allowed’ the few to dictate to us as to how to raise, and educate, our children. Usually these ‘few’ had no children themselves, but held sway because they are deemed expert by those who are always happy to pass problems on to others rather than solve them themselves. We now have no authority over our own children, the teachers have no authority over pupils, and sadly the police are regarded by children as a minor inconvenience. And again, it’s our fault. We are too weak, and uncaring, to do anything about this state of affairs. The ‘story’ about the Australian being asked whether in fact Australians were ignorant, and apathetic, and answering, “I don’t know, and I don’t bloody care”, is not a ‘story’. Its a deplorable fact!
      We need to take back our parental rights. To not do so is to abdicate our responsibility to those who need us most—our children. They have a right to be guided in a direction that allows them to develop their fullest potential. The ‘I know best’ brigade have taken that right away from them, our richest resource. We must seize it back. We must!

      Reply

    • Anne71 says:

      12:00pm | 27/04/10

      Very well said, Gra Gra, and I completely agree. It is only in the last 10 to 15 years, as the generation that was never smacked or indeed given any form of discipline reached their teens and 20s, that we have seen these levels of violence escalating. It’s a very sad world when a child can punch a fellow student or even a teacher, yet knows that if the teacher slaps them back or uses any kind of force to stop them, they can lodge a complaint against that eacher and effectively destroy their career. I’m all for the rights of the chld but not at the expense of everybody else’s.  I think we need to tell all the do-gooders to get lost and take their stupid touchy-feely I’m OK, You’re OK crap with them, and actually start making people accept the consequences of their behaviour again, no matter how unpleasant those consequences might be.

    • Patrick says:

      10:22am | 28/04/10

      Smacking was made illegal in Australia when I was about 10. I knew it too, the news kept telling me about all the “horrific abuse” parents were inflicting on their children and how Johnny Howie would make it all O.K. for every kid in Australia.

      I took FULL advantage of the fact I was not able to be disciplined as I had for the past 6-7 years that I was capable of misbehaving, and I know every kid who grew up without being smacked at all would be even worse than me. Supermarket trips after that legislation were a chorus of kids screaming “I WANT THIS AND THIS AND THAT”, and desperate mothers almost breaking down trying to keep their kids in line (bit of a generalisation, but I have seen 3 and 4 year old kids HITTING their parents in the shops because they won’t buy what they want)

      Schools and smacking is a completely alien idea to me though, but I do feel it would be better to know the consequence of idiotic actions than to just have a “detention”, because seriously, who gives a shit about being told to sit in a room for half an hour after school, that just gives you more time to plot pranks / vandalism of the school.

      As Angry Anderson proclaimed, bring back the biff, and hopefully some newfound respect for adults in the minds of the youth of today.

    • Edward James says:

      10:12am | 27/04/10

      The plot has been lost David. Most of us know that, yet we continue to pay taxes and accept the same old same old from a succession of politicians who seem to have their backbones removed during the process of being elected.  A big part of our slow but inevitable slip into anarchy is the result of citizens absorbing the worst of the way our government acts in some process of osmosis.  Blame shifting and sidestepping responsibilities is just how it is done by those whom we give our votes to in trust. These people hold themselves up as the best society has to offer so there is no surprise our children are picking up bad examples. Good examples are very few and far between.  As the opportunity to move away diminishes and population densities increase so too will the level of agro.

      Reply

    • Andy says:

      10:24am | 27/04/10

      I have seen some pretty nasty road-rage incidents but the worst that ever happened to me was turning right from Glebe Point Road onto Parramatta Road a 40ish bespectacled kind of nerdy looking pedestrian took offense to me turning (despite me having a green light and he having crossed on a flashing red signal) and spat in my window. What kind of filthy pig does that? I still fantasize about chasing him through Victoria park and crash-tackling him.

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      10:38am | 27/04/10

      I had a problem with a group doing burnout near my house in Caloundra. The idiots were regulars in a side street, so I took their number plate No rang the local police and no trouble since. They explained the find the phone number and ring the offenders and put them on notice they are being watched. So if you have trouble with tailgaters etc take their number and ring the police you may save some one else life.

    • James says:

      11:22am | 27/04/10

      You are leaving out a lot of details, except for showing that you have some hatred towards people who look nerdy and that you would enjoy inflicting pain on someone.

      I am a bit confused about how someone can take offence to you by making a turn. I do that all the time. It is green for me, but the pedestrians are still crossing so I wait for them to get across as I have no intentions on being arrested for possible man slaughter. No one has spat on me yet, which is why I am curious what you did more than just make a turn.

      Spitting is disgusting, but would you rather have someone kick your car and make a dent? Spit can be washed off.

    • Andy says:

      01:23pm | 27/04/10

      James, your assumption that I was doing something to provoke (as with most assumptions) is in this case wrong. The only telling thing I’m leaving out is that I myself am a bespectacled nerdy looking 40ish person. I was not speeding or “hooning”, the car I was driving at the time was a totally stock early 90s Mitsubishi Magna and I was dressed in my regular slightly shabby shirt and tie having just come from a very boring business meeting. I was not in any way breaking, or bending any laws. I was merely going about my day when some disgusting excuse for a person chose to spit on me (he was clearly aiming for my face but missed). At the time I wondered if it might have been Harold Scruby, but I checked his photo online, it wasn’t him smile

      Had I been doing something to have provoked this guy to spit on me I probably wouldn’t have been so angry about it. I will admit that in this instance I wished, and continue to wish, harm on the anonymous perpetrator. James, are you so highly evolved that you can honestly say you have never flippantly wished harm on someone?

      And yes, I would rather have someone kick my car and dent it than spit on me.

    • James says:

      03:36pm | 27/04/10

      Andy, I just found it so odd that someone whould spit on your car without any reason at all. If you did absolutely nothing, even startling the guy, I would dare to say that guy possibly might have been a bit loopy.

      I always refrain from hurting people, but when I do wish harm on people I only see it from an-eye-for-an-eye viewpoint. Still, I do not dwell on it for years. I move on.

      This might be where this rage is coming from. It seems to me that a lot of people tend to up the anty by ten times. As I said, spitting is dusgusting, but I would never ever wish to run someone down because of that. I am sorry, but that is just pathetic. It also shows why we have some many wars on this planet. Instead of sitting down and coming to an agreement, we feel like killing off everyone that disagrees with us.

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      10:32am | 27/04/10

      Everyone tsked tsked when that U.S national was canned in Singapore for graffiti. Guess what? A lot less graffiti there. Probably a lot less violence as well.

      Reply

    • 123 says:

      05:09pm | 29/04/10

      There are problems, otherwise they wouldn’t have police or people in jail. But their issues are so minuscule compared to ours, that Singapore reports a lot of Australia’s crime in their news.

    • James says:

      10:37am | 27/04/10

      In Europe you hear from people that Aussies are relaxed and very friendly. All countries make assumptions about each other, but after I came here I found it to be true. I have only met and know friendly Aussies who are very relaxed and enjoy life. They accept people for who they are and so no reason to make enemies.

      I have also seen and experienced what Penbo is talking about. It seems sometimes that a lot of Aussies are pissed off at everything. Not only will you experience it with car drivers, but also with cyclists. It is an odd, but very troubling passive-aggressive attitude towards everyone around them.

      I agree that it is not the schools fault. The function of a school is to give people an education. Those responsible for teaching kids how to be standup citizens are the parents. It is also true that people might have become too soft, but who really wants to get into a fight to prove a point? We should not have to start beating up people so we can feel safe on the street. And I do not think we need to turn this country into another police state, but more police presence would not hurt.

      Of course, we can all speculate about what can be done to solve this rage issue, but I think it would be much easier to solve it if we knew why people raged so much.

      Reply

    • ASaleh20 says:

      10:44am | 27/04/10

      Well that’s what you get for allowing our Major parties to allow overcrowding in cities, and allowing certain suburbs to drift into gehttoism? I like watching you city folk squirm David Penberthy as you have been too apathetic to question the way in which Australia is being rebuilt from a lucky easy going country into an uptight mess, ...

      In NSW all that will happen is we will have another War on Crime and continue to lock people up at twice the rate of other states and pay taxes for each prisoner to cost the state $80-100K per year to be locked up.

      Keep chasing your tails peoples….

      Reply

    • Emma says:

      10:47am | 27/04/10

      I don’t like that the author backed down, no matter what you should always stand up for what you believe in. No more weakness from the demographic that should be standing up like their fathers did and saying no thats not ok. Instead its left to women like me that are passionate about the world our children are living in. Sure I’ve almost been physically assulted plenty of times for standing up for fairness, but at least I sleep at night knowing I am truely Australian.

      Reply

    • John says:

      12:37pm | 27/04/10

      Emma, i’m not exactly a pansy but I would also avoid any violence in front of my child or putting her in any sort of risk.

    • Kate says:

      01:44pm | 27/04/10

      I can’t believe this - Emma, are you having us on?? This situation wasn’t about ‘standing up for what you believe in’. Unless David believes that people shouldn’t be dickhead hoons, which is fair enough. But he was going to get beaten up, with his little child there, for absolutely nothing. You can’t reason with a aggressive idiot like that. Do you think the guy was really going to apologise if David politely explained that he didn’t think he was behaving in an appropriate fashion? Do you think he would have made the world a better place by firing back? Maybe you should learn to pick your fights.
      I might add that a woman who talks back to is just that slightly less likely to be physically beaten up than a guy.

    • ABc says:

      03:33pm | 27/04/10

      Emma, are you crazy??  My partners a cop.  This is relevant to the extent that I am a very good (but very impatient driver).  I am one of those people who used to give the horn a go when I was cut off, or when some twit was too busy picking their nose or looking at the mobile phone to comprehend that an arrow had turned green.  However,  I’ve been told (and I am not usually particuarly obedient to being “told” anything, that this serves only the purpose of potentially pissing off the wrong people).

      Yes, to some it may be an indication of the pussyification of people that they aren’t prepared to “stand up” for “what’s right”.  But seriously, what is the point of reinforcing to someone, who already knows that they are driving like a total and complete spanner that that is precisely what they are doing?  The chances of coming across a violent dickehead are slim, but seriously, what is achieved by the venting or the tooting?  Nothing but the assertion of road rule superiority.  I would bet that a lot of us have done the whole tooting head shaking thing (and after a few seconds of feeling superior about our responsible and worldly knowledge of the road rules - are thinking - “Holy shit.  Hope he doesn’t pull up along side me at the traffic lights!”). 

      Yes these people are dickheads.  No doubt.  But in terms of mitigating anti social behaviour - how does compounding that behaviour by enganging in a form of your own - standing up and going the punch - help?  In terms of those that say that the police are bitching and moaning about doing their job - I disagree - it is the upper echelons of police that go that route.  You will very rarely here the operational cops whinging about doing their job.  What does concern them is that those that are doing the “standing up” are not thinking beyond the atavastic need to be seen to be “doing something”.  Do I want my lovely partner getting up from our bed at night to go and scrape dickheads of the roadway because they’ve plowed into a tree.  No I don’t.  But he’s also had to get up from his bed, as Penbo has said, to help supervise the loading of people into body bags, because some sense of righteousness had compelled them to “stand up” in a situation which they are unable to control or comprehend the consequences of a responsive need to do the right thing.  Yes, do the right thing, and ring the cops, report people, poke that drunken bloke lying in the middle of the road to see if he’s still breathing, and then do something.  But most people are not equipped to manage a situation which can quickly spiral totally out of control.

    • David Penberthy

      David Penberthy says:

      09:36pm | 27/04/10

      Great Em - give us your number I’ll buzz you next time I need to go the knuckle

    • Mark T says:

      10:47am | 27/04/10

      Taking down the license plate and reporting it to the police is a waste of time. No action is ever undertaken and it is simply your word against the other individual. I’ve experienced multiple instances of road rage and drunken idiots when I’ve been minding my own business.  I’m still haunted by the CCTV footage from London where two guys were minding their own business and for the fun of it one of three guys just stabs one of them in the heart.

      What is needed to address this anti-social behaviour in an extension of the children’s court to become a bully court where parents are held responsible for the actions of their children. I’d suggest fines of up to $5000 and community service for entire families if necessary. We need to beef up the role of DOCs with Centrelink. I’d happily pay more tax if it was diverted to this issue.

      We need to encourage self defence in schools, but not in the physical sense more along the lines of having the instincts to pull out their mobile phones and record this behaviour. The problem as demonstrated by Penbo is that generally people freeze up as they are shocked by the behaviour. Your brain just floods with hormones and you don’t even think to take down details as you divert your eyes. 

      Empowering the police to belt these people has no effect and is likely to result in more police being harmed and targeted.

      Reply

    • Dave says:

      11:21am | 27/04/10

      What’s the point of fining people like this? The “parents” will probably steal the money or tell their child to earn money to pay for it - who will in turn go and rob some helpless person.

      Child detention is pointless as they probably have a better quality of life than they previously did plus they get to meet lots of other budding criminals.

    • Peter says:

      01:50pm | 28/04/10

      MarkT my question to you is have you tried ringing the police or are you just assuming no action. I will repeat I have tried that several times and in Queensland it DOES work so try it and then bag it if it doesn’t work for you or at least ring your local police and ask them. As for reacting like the horn only effects people that try to do the right thing, not the hoons that live on that type of action. Now I just ignore and keep calm. Then again I don’t live in the rat race.

    • Darren Hepe says:

      08:33pm | 29/04/10

      Pulling out your mobile is a gamble in a confrontation.

      I pulled out my mobile and threatened to record a confrontation I had with a neighbour wielding and threatening me with a machete. He backed down as he had a police record and did not want to be recorded.

      However my sister threatened to call the police on her mobile when a 15 year old girl threatened her with a shopping trolley bar. The girl immediately attacked her, putting her in intensive care for several days. The mobile triggered the attack, the girl did not want my sister to know where she lived (her brother had beaten my nephew at a local park) and if my sister had withdrawn she likely would not have been attacked.

      I have little faith in police response to incidents either.

      My daughter was attacked and injured by a neighbours dog, and the police refused to attend as dogs are ‘a council matter’.

      These neighbours (next to no education, no employment, live in a housing commission, DOCS took their children for several months, and are known to the police for violence and drug use) responded by lieing to the police we had done several awful things to them, including stoning their dog.

      The police were on our doorstep that night, with the claim of hard evidence, witnesses and demanding a confession ‘to make it easier on us’ for ‘grieviously wounding their dog’

      Although none of their lies stuck to us in any legal sense, the police have offered no explanation or apology for investigating an attack on a dog, but refusing to investigate an attack on my four year old daughter. Its clear their priorities do not lie in the right place.

    • Steph says:

      11:09am | 27/04/10

      Penbo, growing up in the outer burbs of Melbourne during the late 70’s and early 80’s, I was heavily exposed to this type of behavior. I am pleased to say that I am in no way inclined to behave in this way and have never been in the past. But due to the environment I grew up in I learnt two things, how to stay out of the way of harm, and if that wasn’t possible, then how to get out of trouble.

      With a young family in my life now, I do know that I do not need them exposed to this. But if they were, then the only choice I may have is that the best form of defence is attack. I don’t have the luxury of negotiation or mexican stand offs as the fear generated within my children’s minds can do more harm than not being perceived as being able to protect them.

      Having lived in Adelaide also and watching a relatively reduced level of this type of behavior, I was suprised at how quicky the hoon backed down when they saw me stand my ground and show a willingness to look after myself.

      Reply

    • Aaron says:

      11:11am | 27/04/10

      We have entertained the ‘progressive education’ approach for far too long and is quite probably the reason why things have gotten worse. Do people really think that a teenage kid with a bellyful of bourbon, cruising the burbs with his boozed up mates is going to remember that ‘educational’ poster warning of knife crime or that glossy Government pamphlet citing the risks of drink driving ? Do you think these initiatives are epiphany conducing ?

      I don’t.

      The only way these people learn is when they are seriously injured or someone close to them is seriously injured or killed. Just like nagging parents and tiresome ‘oldies’, lame pamphlets and warm, fuzzy posters just do not intrude into the narrow parameters of the modern idiot’s self absorbed world.

      My parents taught me manners, respect and the indispensable lesson of effect and consequences. It’s not the job or responsibility of school teachers to pick up the slack for lazy, culpable parents but you can’t police parents can you. 
      The Government needs to take off the kid-gloves and start cracking down. Ask any New York cop what works in a city that is far more dangerous than ours and they will tell you that Zero tolerance and heavy consequences make a difference. 

      Fines ? 48 hour impounding of cars ?  What do these things achieve apart from lining the states pockets ?

      And most ridiculously is that implicit in these penalties is the assumption that someone willing to main or kill someone with a knife, bat or car is going to be concerned about a fine.

      Reply

    • Anjuli says:

      11:15am | 27/04/10

      Once upon a time there used to be road manners where one would stop and let others go past before turning right into a side street ,if there was a car parked on the same side of the road as you were traveling you would wait till the on coming car would pass the other driver would give you a wave not unlike a salute . Now it seems that every one wants wants to get in first and make it dangerous for others.It is not only young guys but mothers picking up the children from school, I know I live opposite a primary school the even park on peoples drives and get all upperty if told about it.When all they have to do is park the car further away and walk a little.

      Reply

    • Norm says:

      11:21am | 27/04/10

      Now, imagine this scenario but in America

      Reply

    • LC says:

      11:51pm | 22/07/11

      If you’re implying that he’ll whip out and use a gun, the unlikeliness of such a scenario aside, it’s first-degree murder (attempted murder if they live), and even if your lawyer can sweet-talk the prosecution out of the death penalty, you’re still looking at life in jail without parole, and the judge isn’t going to let you off with a slap on the wrist when sob stories like ADHD, a difficult childhood or his mummy not buying him an RC car when he was 8. Furthermore, their prisons are far from the 4-star resorts we have here. Which is a lot more than can be said for our “Hug-A-Crim” legal system. In the US, if you take a life, it’s the last thing you’ll do as a free man.

      And there is still a likelihood that the guy had a weapon within his reach even in Australia. In my opinion, Pembo just got lucky.

    • Tom says:

      11:23am | 27/04/10

      Some dudes seem to just drive around looking for an excuse to be violent. Like it is a recreational sport, spurring each other on in some sort of sick game. It is localized terrorism.

      They know they can get away with it, and rely on the general peacefulness of most people to keep themselves safe. They would pick their targets well. The ultimate weak cowards. 

      No doubt their violence doesn’t stop at threatening random strangers, their girlfriends, kids and families’ probably fill as punching bags in the spare time.

      Reply

    • Alan says:

      11:46am | 27/04/10

      I travel overseas for extended periods a lot and as far as aggression goes I’ve constantly found the average Australian to be much worse than anywhere else, even USA and the Middle East, which have reputations (whether deserved or not) for drop-of-a-hat aggro. I’ve been traveling around the UK for 3 months and I’ve found the southern Irish to be far and away the most courteous, friendly and cooperative drivers followed by the Brits (all over England) then the Welsh. In America you have to be in the ‘wrong area’; in Oz you just have to be in Oz. From a distance we look like a culture of scumbags and I can tell you word is getting out. Far from the past reputation of the happy-go-lucky larrikin I’ve had more than 20 people comment that they think I’m friendly “for an Australian”. We’re more and more being seen as low-rent Americans, all self-righteous about the fine details of our personal rights but rather vague about the rights of others. It’s heartbreaking, because I know it’s true and it can’t be defended.

      I have 2 daughters, 27 and 18 years of age and both parented the same way. The elder is a complete joy and a wonderful human being; the younger, it breaks my heart to say, is a scumbag. My eldest daughter nailed it when she pointed out the crowd her sister had to choose friends from at school and the disgraces those kids call their parents. I love my country and I’m so homesick I can’t wait to get back there this week, but it breaks my heart to see what we’ve allowed ourselves to become and how we seem to delight in defending our ratbaggery. Bogans are just the easiest targets. Nowadays it’s hard and getting harder to find anyone who isn’t negatively self-absorbed, aggressive, negatively opinionated, selfish, spiteful, and narrow-minded. I think it’s only beginning now that a few decent folks are looking at what we’ve allowed ourselves to become and are openly wondering if what we gained was worth what it cost us.

      I don’t want the 1950s and 1960s back; I just want my people back. I miss who you were and I detest what you’ve become. Politicians didn’t do this. We did it to ourselves.

      Reply

    • 6c legs says:

      12:22pm | 27/04/10

      Couldn’t agree more with your whole comment.

      Crikey, when i got out my camera and started filming the behaviour of the brats-next-door (ripping out my plants) I had a copper at my door 15mins later!!!! oh yeah, ‘they’ know “their rights”, but anyone elses Rights? nah, NO ONE has “rights”, only *them*.
      And aint that just a great way for a Society to get on. . .

      *sigh*

    • OldGirl says:

      03:33pm | 27/04/10

      How true, I too miss the old days, but its not the times I actually miss, its the friendliness of Aussies, the politeness of children. Far from being a delight today they have become pretty scary. We just have to hope for our children’s sake all of this aggression turns around. Sorry that happened to you Penbo, next time call the police sweetheart, you don’t have to tolerate that.

    • James says:

      03:45pm | 27/04/10

      I am truly greatful for you being brave enough to write this. This is something that I needed to hear from an Aussie.
      What you wrote made me understand even more why I miss Western Europe so much and why I can not wait to get back there.

      I have personally met those nice Aussies you miss and stayed clear of those you meet too often, but I still feel I am surrounded by a lot of angry people. I honestly feel I have to watch everything I say so I can stay out of trouble.
      I think it is the first time I honestly feel unsafe in a Western country; and I have walked down some really nasty areas in Europe alone.

    • Gene Hunt, in a philosophical mood says:

      04:10pm | 27/04/10

      Old Girl, the friendliness of the people and the politeness of the children was due to everything that made those times that way. You can’t have todays individual freedoms and rights AND the friendliness and politeness because the freedom to do what you want, the right to do and say what makes you happy the minute it pops into your head is bound to make someone else unhappy. I’ve listened to a thoroughly modern mother instructing her daughter that her (the child’s) happiness is all that matters in life and she should pursue her own happiness no matter what. But what about when that pursuit is selfish and hurts everyone around her? It’s too late anyway - individualism and false ‘freedom’ is a drug and society’s hooked. The fact is most people couldn’t handle going back to the way it was. As someone else here said, everyone complained when some Yank kid got caned in Singapore for being a graffiti vandal and they rush to the defense of their own kids even when they know their kids have done wrong. In terms of law and order, the harsh treatment and societal conformity of Singapore today and our society in the 1950s made people individually less ‘free’ but made people collectively freer. It’s a contradiction, sure, but if you don’t get it, there’s no point me trying to explain it

    • Gene Hunt says:

      04:26pm | 27/04/10

      James mate, you need to take an evening stroll in the banlieus of Paris or maybe the backstreets of Bradford. I don’t think you’ve seen all Western Europe has to offer. For real tourism delights, I read in the UK papers that that wonderful city of London is excellent at this time of year for drive-by shootings by 16 year olds on pushbikes.

    • James says:

      11:46am | 27/04/10

      One word, Ice.

      Reply

    • C says:

      01:00pm | 27/04/10

      James, you are spot on…......Now let’s get to the bottom of this problem. May I suggest that the product is manufactured by “scumbags”
      What it has done to our nation is almost as bad as sending our youth of to a war. When they are on Ice they are walking time bombs.
      They kill and mame with their violence, have no heart or soul we are the enemy and that is just in their own street!!!
      Once they scramble their small brains with Ice, you can never get the real person back again. Lost cause.

    • James says:

      01:39pm | 27/04/10

      Yep, an insideous problem, if drugs that produce aggression are added to a population of boneheads you can bet that violence will follow. 

      Drugs like that can turn even mild mannered types into raving beserkers, it is a bit like a zombie movie.  People caught making drugs like ice should be treated as though they meant to poison large numbers of people.

    • Sal says:

      12:03pm | 27/04/10

      You should have just got his number plate and reported him for dangerous driving rather than just having a cry about it. You did nothing about it and there is the possibility because you didn’t do that he could well kill someone. You are just as much to blame for the reason society is heading down the drain. Also honestly hoon driving is the least of my worries, not being safe in my own home is far more worrying as is random attacks on members of the public by gang members. None of which are policed like they should be, I guess because there is no money in doing actual police work.

      Reply

    • A Bob says:

      12:29pm | 27/04/10

      It can be very difficult to remember detailed things like number plates. Because of the adrenalin released our short term memories tend to get wiped, or don’t even record. It’s part of the flight or fight response; our brain is geared up to defend ourselves or run like hell and anything non-essential gets shut down.

      This is one of the reasons why eye-witness evidence is so unreliable.

      But, yeah, a guy with a pram is menace to society. Off with his head!

    • otama says:

      06:41pm | 27/04/10

      The police wouldn’t have done anything…

    • Me says:

      06:45pm | 28/04/10

      I find it hard to believe that the police won’t do anything - I think it’s more that people just couldn’t be bothered getting off their butts to ring the police or, more likely, don’t want to get involved. (If you don’t know the story of Kitty Genovese, you should Google it).

      We had hoons chucking laps around where I live a couple of weekends ago (not a good thing with the number of kids in our area). I called the cops, was thanked profusely, and a patrol car turned up about five minutes later. No more hoons and it all it ‘cost’ me was a phone call.

      Cheers

    • otama says:

      01:18pm | 29/04/10

      You were lucky, the cops must have run out of doughnuts and needed something else to do. Unless you can prove it, they do nothing. A friend of mine got cut off by a hoon once and gave him the finger. He proceeded to follow her and throw glass bottles at her car, damaging the paintwork. She got his number plate, a clear description of the car and the driver. She reported it to the police and they easily tracked the guy, went to his house and questioned him. You know what happened next? The cops came back to my friend and said: “he seemed like a really nice bloke, it couldn’t have been him.”
      Are you serious?? The car was in the driveway, he matched her description and they did SQUAT! NOW tell me that you weren’t lucky to have them turn up. That was the most PATHETIC display from a “police officer” I have ever seen. Useless they are when it comes to hoons, they’re all talk and no action.

    • 6c legs says:

      12:08pm | 27/04/10

      meh.
      Penbo if this was the scariest moment of your life, then you’ve had a cushy life. (more like maybe the usual office-bully-behaviour doesn’t cut it in the rea world ???)

      I have to put up with the same sort of threatening behaviour every.day from my next door neighbours *8* ‘little-howard-baby-bonuses’ and their ‘parent/s’. (am moving as soon as practicable) These little darlings aren’t even teenagers yet,  i’m not hanging around for that!

      The chasm between drongos and those wanting to live in a civilised society is getting wider every day - and this is *Launceston*!!! What the hell it must be like in the big cities now? (don’t think i wanna know)

      I think that it comes down to humans being forced the share their tiny living areas. No one ever has any privacy, homes are stacked on top of eachother, no one trusts anyone, anymore. (sometimes with good reason)  I don’t think that humans were meant to ever live this jam packed together, so whats happening is what always happens when Societies break down - people turn on eachother for the smallest provocation.

      And if you think it’s bad now, wait until the worlds population gets to 7 billion! ( famines, no oil or phosphorus, not enough water to grow food, the list goes on and should be enough to make us all stop reproducing, now!)

      Reply

    • Miles says:

      04:52pm | 27/04/10

      There has actually been studies done in regards to over-crowding populations involving rats.  The more crowded the populations get in the same space, the more violent they turned, and basically started killing each other.  Sure they’re just rats….and we’re humans…which are also animals.  But it does raise some concern - especially when we are constantly seeing evidence of it…

    • endof says:

      12:14pm | 27/04/10

      I don’t believe your story for one moment, this isn’t 1970 and anyone with a “ford muscle car” is bound to be in their ‘50s or older.  Anyway, if you give in to bullies you have no right to complain about being bullied.

      Reply

    • Gene Hunt says:

      01:03pm | 27/04/10

      Age is no barrier to scumbaggery. There are plenty of violent ‘mature’ people around.

    • Mike Barton says:

      12:15pm | 27/04/10

      I have had the same problem with a guy in a small 4WD changing lanes and then pushing into my braking area, I tooted him and then it was on he kept stopping in front of me trying hard to get me to run into the back of hime. You now dare not say anything in case you become the brunt of hostile actions. Then we have drivers like the one on Mowbray Rd Friday afternoon who backed out of their driveway into on coming traffic, made the traffic wait until until the Chatswood bound lane stopped and let her in.  I do a lot of country driving and I have drivers who pass me in an 80kms zone across double lines get in front of me and then promptly does 80kms. Why?  I really think we need a change of line colour back to yellow (as they have in the US and Canada)  there is something more distinctive about double yellow lines than the one colour fits all white.  We seem to have more self-absorbed, aggressive, self opinionated and spiteful drivers on the road who dont drive forn the conditions. If you leave a suitable distance for braking someone sees this as an opportunity to fill the space. When will the RTA put back the visual referent to distance between cars. People have no concept of time and by the time they count 2 second they are wedged in the back of someone. People need a visual concept that is why the car length is ideal, one car length for every 10kms per hour. 

      As I did this I shouted “Hey!” at the top of my voice and waved a fist in his direction. He slammed on the brakes, reversed at speed, and pulled up right next to the pram. “Did you say something arsehole?” he asked.

      “No,” I lied, staring straight back at him.

      “You did, didn’t you? What did you say?”

      “Mate, I was talking to my daughter. I was just crossing the road.”

      The guy stared back at me. He had a woman with him in the passenger seat, presumably his girlfriend, and at the time I remember thinking it was unlikely that he’d get out of the car and bash me to a pulp in front of her, especially as I had the added insurance of a baby.

      Reply

    • Jones says:

      06:49pm | 27/04/10

      Changing the colour of the lines is not going to make people drive more responsibly.  Instead of overtaking you on double white lines, they will overtake you on yellow lines.

      More rules are not the answer.  We have more rules in this country than we’ve ever had in the past and nobody has to think any more.  Make people think a bit.  Make them consider the repercussions of their actions.  Maybe it’s already too late for the scumbags we’ve already produced but maybe, just maybe, if the kids of today are brought up being taught how to think and reason and consider cause and effect, maybe they might grow up into actual people.

    • Charles Kelly says:

      08:12pm | 29/04/10

      Your “braking area”, Mike Barton? What a crock. If there’s enough space in front of your car for another motorist to safely pull into, then they have every right to do so. If you then personally require more “braking area”, by all means slow down a little to leave more space in front of you - but if you leave too much space and someone once again fills it, so be it. Other motorists are under no obligation whatsoever to pander to your nervous driving habits. You don’t own the road, but honking your horn at the “guy in a small 4WD” makes it clear that you think you do.

    • Alexander says:

      12:36pm | 27/04/10

      It’s sad to say, but the only thing some people respect is violence. 
      But that is what society is founded on to be honest.  ‘We are a bigger and more powerful gang than you so do it our way’.  The problem is that the enforcement of this has become laughable in the eyes of the outsiders.  People have been taught to abhor violence, rather than treat it as a last resort, and so are completely unable to deal with it, as you experienced.  The Police are only going to be there on the scene if you are incredibly lucky, mostly they will be there to clean up the mess and maybe hunt down the perpetrator afterward.  Most of the perpetrators know that they will get a light sentence if they _only_ bash you so they have no fear.
      The courts are so involved in not wrecking the life of the perpetrator that they have completely forgotten that there needs to be a real deterrent, that these people need to be intimidated into following the laws of civilized society, yes, intimidated into following them.  It’s not that the punishments need to be made larger, as that does not work.  It’s that the law needs to be swift, transparent and punitive.
      Many of these people are like dogs…. you cant punish a dog for pissing on the carpet an hour ago, they simply don’t remember it.  Most of these offenders simply don’t care if they may be put in prison in 2-3 years time.  Quite a few know that if they get charged there is a whole dance of counselors, employers and dependents that they can dance to get the court to go easy on them.  And then there is the DPP’s predication for plea bargining to keep costs down.

      Reply

    • Gene Hunt says:

      01:05pm | 27/04/10

      That’s why the biggest and hardest gang should be the law-abiding public, with the cops, the courts and the jails as their enforcers.

    • Jim Hacker says:

      12:53pm | 27/04/10

      If this country was prepared to invest in sufficent police numbers, courts with no backlogs, judges whose judgements reflected the wishes of the community and more jails, none of these mongrels would be seen in public.

      Reply

    • BTS says:

      01:08pm | 27/04/10

      and at a huge increase to the taxpayer to cover costs.

    • John in Alice says:

      02:08pm | 27/04/10

      To BTS - society ALWAYS has to pay for its mistakes, like allowing permissiveness and laxity into the system. You don’t keep up the yard, the weeds take over.

    • Gene Hunt says:

      02:09pm | 27/04/10

      BTS says: and at a huge increase to the taxpayer to cover costs.

      Yeah, better to keep spending our taxes on glossy brochures and daft advertising campaigns.

    • Jim Hacker says:

      02:30pm | 27/04/10

      And worth every penny of it pal

    • BTS says:

      02:34pm | 27/04/10

      Umm did I say that was a problem or that I wouldn’t be only too happy to pay extra? 

      Noooooo…

    • Beagle says:

      01:08pm | 27/04/10

      Personally I I think a major contributing factor to this aggressive often violent anti-social behaviour is meth and it’s derivatives.

      Reply

    • Frank says:

      01:20pm | 27/04/10

      Two words; Tough sanctions.
      Anything else is just hot air. Education, more police, immigration - all puffery. Viciously tough sanctions control behaviour. Look outside your own backyard. It works.

      Reply

    • Luke says:

      01:31pm | 27/04/10

      Well if Parents were held accountable for their children why the hell are 10 year olds out roaming the streets at 2am in the morning We the people need to get tough impose a 3 strikes and your out to the parents ie Keep your kids in and Discipline them or Spend a 5 year term in jail…

      Two kids broke into my mums house ripped the window of its hinges the Courts gave them a fine. So next time they try it I will put a bullet to their kneecaps

      Reply

    • John in Alice says:

      01:38pm | 27/04/10

      A whole lot of Aussies seem to think that might makes right.  Well, that’s all fine and good when the good guys are bigger and stronger, but unfortunately this is not usually the case.  Unless one has some kind of equalizer, generally a weapon, it will be the good folk who end up in hospital beds or the morgue.  Sadly, our government frowns upon weapons of any sort while the criminal element ignores any and all rules perported to make our society more peaceful and less threatening.  While it might help if all citizens had combat training for self defence this seems impractical and unlikely.  Even our police are frequently hospitalized in attacks by individuals and groups, and it they aren’t allowed to exert control over the situation, than nobody is safe.
      Until the country pulls its head out of its arse and realizes we all have a right to reasonably defend ourselves against bigger and stronger offenders, the thugs will continue to rule our streets.  Discipline within our schools based on a “whatever it takes” philosophy is a clear starting point.

      Reply

    • Smith, Wesson & Me says:

      01:41pm | 27/04/10

      Chk, Chk,  Boom!.....Once they’ve taken away our guns, they’ve also taken away our freedom and right to protect ourselves. One doesn’t knowingly attack a venemous snake for fear of being bitten and possibly killed. Instead, they will pass it by wherever possible. Only the fool hardy idiots may decide otherwise, and they of course, deserve what they get, without any sympathy at all. Same applies to all car hoons & bogans in general. You get in first if you feel threatened by them and soon they will learn to steer well clear of you and others of like minded.ness. The cops can’t always be there for us in times of trouble and the courts don’t always have our (the decent folk) best interests at heart therefore, it is our God given right to protect ourselves from other predators and if that means a gun, legal or not, then under the current circumstances, so be it. I’d rather be found guilty at trial and alive than presumed guilty and dead.

      Reply

    • Mark says:

      01:42pm | 27/04/10

      so when you were crossing the road, was it at a pedestrian crossing or traffic light?

      Or were you crossing illegally?

      Roads are for cars, as a pedestrian you ‘LEGALLY’ need to cross at a safe place.

      I am sick of seeing mums holding their children by their arms and running across 4 lanes of traffic 200m down from a pedestrian crossing or traffic light. Then when one of these idiots gets bowled over, they drop the speed limit 10km.

      Not only are you endangering road users, but you are teaching your children a terrible lesson.

      Reply

    • Charles Kelly says:

      12:22pm | 29/04/10

      Spot on Mark. What this self-indulgent article really highlights is the egocentric air of entitlement many pedestrians display, and their blinkered denial when they’re faced with the reality that their ignorant actions have consequences. Morons like Harold Scruby have a lot of blood on their hands.

    • Dale says:

      01:42pm | 27/04/10

      This attude starts in the cradle,  not so long ago i was a crossing supervisor or (lolly pop lady)  this day while doing my best to keep children safe with in the crossing a child was sent by her Mum to deliver a message to another Mum,  the child was coming down to use the crossing, her mother calls and says just go across don"t   bother with the crossing, as the child went to do the same   going back i told the child to please use the crossing and of cause the child did nowing this was the right thing to do.

      When Mum was driving off to go home she stops at the crossing and tells me i have an attude,  If this child had have been struck by a car   she would have blamed me.

      What message does this give to the child   You can just say and do what you like   and we all have just got to stand and take it.  Children learn from examle mum and dads out there

      Reply

    • Smith & Wesson & Me says:

      01:50pm | 27/04/10

      Chk, Chk,  Boom!.....Once they’ve taken away our guns, they’ve also taken away our freedom and right to protect ourselves. One doesn’t knowingly attack a venomous snake for fear of being bitten and possibly killed. Instead, they will pass it by wherever possible. Only the fool hardy idiots may decide otherwise, and they of course, deserve what they get, without any sympathy at all. Same applies to all car hoons & bogans in general. You get in first if you feel threatened by them and soon they will learn to steer well clear of you and others of like mindedness. The cops can’t always be there for us in times of trouble and the courts don’t always have our (the decent folk) best interests at heart therefore, it is our God given right to protect ourselves from other predators and if that means a gun, legal or not, then under the current circumstances, so be it. I’d rather be found guilty at trial and alive than presumed innocent and dead.

      Reply

    • Matt says:

      01:51pm | 27/04/10

      Wow I’m glad its not only me that has had an experience like that. One day riding my bike home on a very hot Summer’s day, I was riding up a street just near home when a bogan gave me a mouthful cause he and his souped up piece of junk had to wait just a split second to turn a corner. I gave him the finger in reply which was a bad choice- this bogan then went up the street a bit and did a u turn and came back ‘why the hell did you give me the finger?’ etc- I told him why which led him and his little brother I assume to get out of the car and confront me- one with a steering wheel brace.. Luckily he wasn’t stupid enough to have a go at me (At least I had a helmet on that I could of used for some protection), but he was seriously willing to use it. All because I made him have to wait maybe a whole second to turn a corner! It makes me sad to see people like that douchebag, and anything that can be done to discourage these scoundrels or put them away when they do offend is well worth the effort.

      Reply

    • Dale says:

      01:55pm | 27/04/10

      Bring back National Service for seventeen years and over twelve months of good clean living would do no harm to all girls and boys, some out there would find a way of life that they would enjoy and make a good living and there for a could law abidding citizen.

      As for these younger offenders   make parents more responsible , say , send mum and dad to prison   that would make the parents sit up and take notice of where there little darlings are and what they are doing all house of the day and night

      Reply

    • John says:

      12:22pm | 26/07/10

      A few years ago, people sent to war due to national service in the states have won a class action against the government because it turned out many of them were not capable of handling war and ended up with various psycholigical illnesses, from PTSD to severe anxiety and in several cases, they will have to spend a lot of thier adulthood in and out of psychatric hospitals. The US government was ordered to pay out around $1 1/2 billion of taxpayers money to these people. You do not want something like that to happen here.

      Compelety agree with the second point though.

    • E says:

      02:12pm | 27/04/10

      The tolerance society of moral relativism has left kids to take advantage of a moral wasteland without any signposts. How can they be taught right from wrong when modern education says the very concepts dont exist?

      Reply

    • Gene Hunt says:

      02:57pm | 27/04/10

      Bloody too right!

    • Bethany says:

      03:38pm | 27/04/10

      Absolutely right!

    • Arios says:

      02:23pm | 27/04/10

      These stories are all too common, the same thing has happened to me a couple of times and I’ve heard countless stories of similar. The place has gone to the pack, it’s tragic and almost makes me cry to see out country like this.

      I feel I have a pile of good ideas that I’ve learnt from living in Japan that would really benefit Australian society in a positive way. The people here (while not some perfect other rosy world) just treat and respect each other in a totally different way. When you live here and then think of your home country Australia, you want to cry. It really gets me down, because at age 30, I too am now starting to think about having children and where in this complicated world will I seek to raise them. And when I think of most of the large Australian cities, I can’t think of anywhere worse. I am already scarred by years of bullying throughout high school, and things have only gotten worse. There are so much drugs and violence out there now, it’s just stupidly common place.

      Penbo, great article and all too true.

      I would vote for a new political in an instant who would stand for what the common, hard working people want and need in this country. More personal safety. Yes the thugs are overrunning the streets and everybody knows it. Your typical Rudd and Turnbull type white collar leaders deliver intricate, perfectly sounding speeches, but in the end, don’t make any real changes to make a difference to the real problems. At least Tony Abbot goes against the norm, speaks out at risk of being ridiculed by suggesting such things as putting <30s on the dole into the mining industry etc. It’s really a fantastic suggesting, all of the minor details can be worked out once some thought and effort is directed into this idea. At this point, I will be voting for Abbott because at least he is the closest to a real Aussie.

      As an adult (and a pretty big one 100Kg / 6’1” and I train weights), I feel intimidated standing at even many of the bus shelters in Canberra by myself. The number of out of control groups of kids and thugs that are there, swearing their heads off, high on drugs etc, is just disturbing. I want to come back and help these kids, or do something to make a difference, I have no idea where to start. But at this point, I think Australia is a hole and I don’t want to move back there. Australia has the world’s best beautiful climate and scenery, but the place is a hole being overrun by thugs and common trash.

      How can I write a paper which outlines things we need to change based on the way Japan works and get our Governments to adopt this!?

      Reply

    • Castro says:

      03:31pm | 27/04/10

      Too much power and not enough speed, Arios.  Just ask Jake the Muss.

      I agree with most of what you say, but really, scared sitting at a bus stop in Canberra?

    • ben says:

      02:27pm | 27/04/10

      This behaviour will only get worse as the gap between poor and rich gets bigger. Those less well off will feel aggrieved and angry with those who have it all if we don’t start looking after our neighbours and friends no matter what one another’s circumstances are

      Reply

    • Gene Hunt says:

      02:54pm | 27/04/10

      Some of the biggest hoons, anti-social ratbags and junior crims you’ll meet ‘have it all’ - they’re the offspring of complacent middle-class mums and dads in half million dollar homes who’ve been given everything they ever wanted by parents more concerned with being their children’s friends than being their parents. And when their never-disciplined kids get in trouble with the law, they go on being their ‘mates’, backing them up against the cops. Been there, seen it all, got the t-shirt.

    • Nathan says:

      02:54pm | 27/04/10

      The writer’s reaction perpetuates the problem. These thugs are simply bullies, they expect to make other people back down because that is the response they usually get, but do not underestimate their capacity for cowardice if they are confronted.

      I know you have to be sensible about it, I’m not suggesting going fist to fist with 150kg bikies or a car load of yobs, but the situation described was one grown male against another, in a public place, in broad daylight. I would be sick at my own cowardice if I behaved in the manner described here. It’s just letting the thugs get away with behaving however they want.

      Believe me, from vast experience, engage one of these ‘heroes’ one on one and it rarely escalates. At worst they’ll just leave, muttering ‘you’re not worth it’ or some similar phrase, at best you can humiliate and ridicule the cowards.

      If you want to start a war on scumbags I’m all for it. But look at how your own actions validate the way they act first. Of course, it shouldn’t have to be like this and decent people shouldn’t have to be drawn into confrontation, but since that is how it is in reality, I think the least we can all do is discourage their actions by not allowing them to walk all over us in the first place, where reasonable to do so.

      Reply

    • Alex says:

      03:31pm | 27/04/10

      “the situation described was one grown male against another, in a public place, in broad daylight. “

      No it wasn’t.  One had a baby daughter to protect.

    • lud says:

      02:35am | 30/04/10

      I agree with this. A simple “yes, you nearly killed my baby” would have sufficed. To Alex: even a hoon knows better than to assault a baby ...

    • Dale says:

      03:30pm | 27/04/10

      This is not a problem between the have and have nots.  Ben

      The problem is no respect for others.
      It is more likely to be middle class kids, who do not, have to have weekend jobs to buy what the want   it is more the kids who say mum i want this or that and mum just goes and buys for them   there for no value for what they have   or how hard people have to work to buy what they have.  We   Australians have had to good for to long .

      Reply

    • S.L says:

      03:39pm | 27/04/10

      I see all too many of these idiots too Penbo. The guy in the “souped up” car I’m guessing was a larger person than you. I’m also guessing if you were built like Noel “Crusher” Cleal your mate would’ve continued on his merry way, child or not.
      Even so if you were built like Mr Cleal and I’m sure you had no intention of fronting the said hero, these days you don’t know what they are on or what they are carrying (weapon).
      David I know it’s easier said than done but I bet you’d give a weeks pay to get that looser out of your mind!

      Reply

    • Mikeymike says:

      04:27pm | 27/04/10

      So here’s my story.
      I was leaving the gym one sunny Perth evening and I saw a car lose control as it burned out of a side street and ran into a small tree on the median strip.  As I was making my way to the car I ran into another gym patron and we rapidly came to the conclusion: enough was enough.  We walked over to the guy (who happened to be sitting in his driveway - moron) and gave him an earful.
      Kind of helps that I’m 6’1, and have a look like I could use the driver as a toothpick.  Plus I had backup.  Plus we were in his front yard.  Any escalation on the driver’s part would have been stupid on top of stupid.
      So the bottom line is, I will be more than happy to pick a fight with hoons.  I will only confront when I know I have a chance of winning.  Penbo, biting your tongue may have been galling.  But no matter what happened, you had no chance of winning in an escalation, especially with your child in a pram.

      Don’t worry.  You will get another chance.  I hope when you do I’m standing next to you.

      Reply

    • Muttley says:

      12:54pm | 28/04/10

      Bravo Mikeymike. First of all, where the hell do you get off advising anyone in a situation that has ZERO to do with you? Congrats, you’re a big scary gym user. So now you’re the arbiter of what people should and shouldnt do?What if everyone just acknowledges how tough you are? Will that shut you up?

    • LC says:

      11:31am | 12/05/11

      Then again, as someone said earlier you never know which one of these hoons/thugs has a knife or other weapon under thier seat.

      When you play with fire, there is always a chance you’ll get burned.

    • Miles says:

      04:29pm | 27/04/10

      If we restore the right for parents & teachers to adequately discipline children, restore the rights of our police to effectively do their jobs (without fear of legal repercussions), and have a judiciary that actually hands appropriate sentencing, then we wouldn’t have such problems.  This whole PC touchy-feely approach to everything DOES NOT WORK.  What’s it going to take for people to wake up and realise we don’t live in an idealistic utopia?  We live in the REAL world well REAL solutions are required.  Bring back effective REAL deterrents and people will start pulling their heads in.

      Reply

    • Pete says:

      05:03pm | 27/04/10

      So…how much of this story is “souped” up for the public?

      Reply

    • dancan says:

      05:06pm | 27/04/10

      I was just talking to a mate, he was telling me how earlier today he got cut off by some toss in a merc and doing the natural thing he beeped and flipped the guy the bird.  In retaliation the guy slowed down to a crawl in the middle of the road and stuck a baseball bat out the window to threaten him

      Reply

    • Alexander says:

      12:53am | 28/04/10

      Maybe I am wrong but I interpret that as a threat to kill.  Your mate has been threatened with a weapon.  He should have taken the reg down and reported it to the Police.  That driver is going armed, and even if they were ‘on their way to training’, the act of threatening someone with it makes it a weapon.

    • The Friendly Hippie says:

      05:45pm | 27/04/10

      The predictable response from most people on this blog (ie, the teary-eyed, wistful yearning for the good ol’ days) is naive at best, stupid at worst.

      You’ve all been reading far too much of The Daily Telegraph and watching far too much of A Current Affair, Today Tonight, etc.  Blaming judges and politicians, indeed!?

      Make love, not war.  All these cranky, violent people simply need a hug.  Judges should be sending them off to anger-management courses and tree-hugging retreats.

      Penbo, you should’ve hugged your muscle-bound brother, radiating peace-lovin’ moon vibes!!!

      Reply

    • JaneAgatha says:

      05:58pm | 27/04/10

      I had a similar experience in recent years. I was driving down a narrow street with cars parked on both sides and I pulled over to give way to an oncoming car. As I did so a hoon in a dark coloured BMW overtook me, forcing the other car I was giving way to to pull over too. I flashed my lights at him as he passed, for being so rude. When the other car had passed and I continued down the street behind him, now going at a crawl. He stopped his car in front of me, got out and strode menacingly towards me - a swarthy 30-something bully-boy, who as in your experience had a dolly bird in the passenger seat.  As he approached, shaking with fear I locked my door and wound up the window. Once he was beside me I saw that there was just enough room to squeeze through the space beside his car If I drove slowly, so edged forward and did just that, leaving him looking affronted behind me, unable to get into his car until I had passed. He then drove behind me down the street for a bit so I turned off at the next turn and kept going, until I was sure he was nowhere in sight. I think of him every time I drive down that street, and would no longer dare flash my lights at anyone for fear of what kind of psycho I might set off on a revenge attack.

      Reply

    • Brydie says:

      06:40pm | 27/04/10

      As I read your article, I actually realised that I am not the only person in the world who truely worries about these kinds of issues! I feel free all of a sudden! I worry about the future of this country and world more than I really should. What happened to the days when we were free spirited teenagers without a care in the world? What I would give to feel that way again, and not have to worry about political leaders, hoons in cars, glassing attacks, random acts of violence and criminals getting off with a slap on the wrist! I want my bubble back!

      Reply

    • Emily says:

      06:46pm | 27/04/10

      A couple of years ago I stood up against a hoon and I was lucky to survive.

      Stopped at a stop sign, the bogan behind me decided I waited too long to before checking the way was clear. I gave him the bird in the rear mirror. He took off behind me, and then sped up to overtake me doing about 100km (in a 60 zone). As he was along side me, he then swerved to try and run me off the road. When that didn’t work, he swerved in front of my car, and jammed on the brakes hoping I’d slam into him.

      This was 8am in the morning. He must have been in his early 20s, same as me. I was shocked that someone could get so angry and impatient over having to wait a couple of seconds and be willing to damage their own car over it. I wish I’d reported it to the police but at the time and figured they’d just blame me for flicking him the bird.

      Reply

    • Charles Kelly says:

      08:15pm | 29/04/10

      Well Emily, you did “flick him the bird” after he voiced his objection to your selfishly and deliberately impeding his progress. You could have given him a little wave by way of apology, but no, you decided to rudely assert your right to be yet another selfish motorist who couldn’t care less that their actions on the road affect others. Clearly you haven’t learned from your mistake - so one day you might just get what may potentially be coming to you if you don’t wise up in time.

    • mattkas says:

      07:22pm | 27/04/10

      The answer is voluntary decentralisation. The big cities are far too crowded with people whose anonymity contributes to their anti-social behaviour. Leave the traffic congestion behind and move to the country for a quieter, easier and far safer lifestyle.

      Reply

    • Graham The Great says:

      07:26pm | 27/04/10

      I work for a large national transport company and almost without exception every driver has refused to put the ‘I Promise’ sticker on his personal vehicle.  The reason, it just gives dickheads justification.  Not enough driver education, just governments kicking the motorist to death inventing and instigating more ways to suck money out of drivers for no return of good roads, driver education programs, just look at N.S.W. RTA electronic signs, not one says something like ‘Drive Safely - Have a Nice Day’, and one of the most unpleasant experiences you could ever have is thinking you will get any pleasantries from RTA Heavy Vehicle Inspectors its always confrontation, intimidation, incompetence and they will look for the most obscure thing to book drivers for.  No a drivers life is not a happy lot!  Trouble is these days there are more trumped up boneheads driving on our roads.

      Reply

    • Jason says:

      08:44pm | 27/04/10

      its a real pity that some of the good and well behaved children out there (yes, they still exist) are given the cold shoulder and are treated like bad people for the actions of their peers.

      To be honest with you, the only people to blame are the parents of the bad kids. they do something wrong, and they get nothing as punishment. It is that sort of upbringing that allows this crap to continue. Maybe parents should be taught how to properly disiplime their kids, not any of this naughty corner crap, but with a warning first, then a smack,. That was how i was brought up and i turned out fine.

      Reply

    • Dennis says:

      09:03pm | 27/04/10

      We need tough penalties for criminals and common tugs, we need to make the system very lenient for people acting in self defense (i.e. if the bloke got out of the car, attacked you, you kicked him back and put him in a wheelchair - too bloody bad! - and no disability pension for him either…!). And finally, if the cops are too busy taking bribes and booking people for 5ks over limit - we should take the law in our own hands and not only stay protected in the eyes of the law, but get a tax cut!

      Reply

    • Russell says:

      09:11pm | 27/04/10

      I flicked through to the bottom after I saw people trying to bring race into this. For god’s sake, get a grip people!

      One of the weirdest scumbag incidents I encountered was when I was walking and a cyclist (caucasian) yelled at me for being on the wrong side of a shared footpath. Stupidly, I yelled back. He swirled around and assaulted me. Fortunately a burly truck driver came over from a nearby traffic jam and intervened.

      “This is your lucky day, faggot!” the cyclist yelled at me before riding on, no doubt to save the planet from “one more car”

      Reply

    • Gerard says:

      09:27pm | 27/04/10

      I sympathize with your experience and agree with your views.  Apart from finding some way for the dysfunctional family to mend itself and provide a loving environment with for kids to grow up (with positive male adult influence), I would suggest the lash as a form of both retribution and deterrence for those convicted of unprovoked violent attacks on innocent people, especially women, children, and the elderly.

      In the meantime, I would ask you to please refrain from using that ugly English word “daft”.  This is Australia, mate, not England.  We’ve got enough English influence on our language without bringing in even more.  Next thing we’ll be hearing that abomination “bleeding” instead of “bloody”.  If you’re short of synonyms for “stupid”, I can help you out with plenty of good Aussie substitutes.  Thanks.

      Reply

    • ben says:

      09:29pm | 27/04/10

      I’d like to believe that the fact that he had his baby with him was relevant, but I suspect that he would have backed down under any circumstances. Tools like these drivers get whatever they want in our society far too often. The rest of us don’t need to bash these idiots, just stand up to them. This guy looks like the winner, because David never learned to fight.

      Reply

    • Rick says:

      11:21pm | 27/04/10

      Why is it that every time someone mentions crime that ill informed former punching bags, who sympathise with their abuser, come out and say that this is the result of children being smacked and it never did them any harm? That’s great that it never did you any harm but you wouldn’t be able to say the same for those that have been smacked, beaten and bullied by losers that by unlucky coincidence happen to be their parents.  If you can’t discipline your children without resorting to violence the cycle continues and many will grow up using physical force to get their way in the world. Gaols aren’t full of people who weren’t smacked as children. 

      There are many terrific young people around today but as the percentage of bogans in the population rises the only option now appears to be paying the high birth rate breeding age scumbag women to be sterilised!

      Reply

    • SJ says:

      10:17am | 28/04/10

      The question is will Kevin Rudd and the state premiers after all this health care reform and climate control work be focusing their attention on tackling this crime problem? Surely they must address this soon.

      I am a twenty something from the south-west of Sydney (where some ppl wouldnt drive thru coz they think random ppl get shot everyday) and I will be honest with my comments whether ppl look down at me or not…

      Firstly, people no longer respect police. Especially younger males. They have no fear against them bcoz “them pigs cant do shit”. Hmm, when did this happen in such a short time? Many guys I know dont appreciate them because they pick on you for small things instead of fighting big crimes. But what r they to do? Let kids on their P’s speed and do burnouts to catch bigger criminals and then u will see the previous go outta control. I do blame the judges for piss weak sentences. If you murder someone and your not remorseful what right do you have to ever be brought back into society?

      I am originally from a European previously communist nation where only in the last decade they no longer have compulsory army duty at 18 and its funny how after the strong iron fist and no army duty that slowly you can already notice society going down hill sadly. My parents tell me that 20-30 years ago you would not dare even stare at a policemen yet in this country people now stare and swear at them like they want to fight them.

      Lets also be real here, have a look at the reports on the police news site and thru the press, a lot of crimes are happening in the same areas and with similar groups of people. I used to hang with a few little trouble makers and the common theme for doing stupidity (non violent) was because they are bored. Teens from poorer areas for example will steal due to boredom and for money they dont have. Whereas teens in more affluent areas can also be little criminals but they have no money problems so they cause damage and graffitti because they are simply bored.

      I think its safe to say in my opinion that things have got worse quite clearly. Recently we drove through Kings Cross as had not seen the place in a while and it was simply a disgusting sight. Thousands of people just crowding the street and you can feel the tension where if you looked at someone for longer than a second, it was on. People cross the road and they bang on cars bonnets or boots for driving thru as slow as possible and these drugged up or drunk idiots think your in the wrong, what do u do but move on and let them have their way?? Its also a disgrace at what women have turned into. They are foul mouthed, drugged up young women who think that just coz they r female, they can get away with murder.

      I admit, I used to laugh at ppl who used to say I am moving outta Sydney or to another city, however these days, I couldnt agree with them more. I wouldnt want my children growing up in this mess of a society.

      Reply

    • Volvo Driver says:

      02:28pm | 28/04/10

      I think you encountered what some people refer to as a “crackhead” and you have my sympathy.

      Reply

    • Charles Kelly says:

      10:58pm | 28/04/10

      Easily the most pathetic aspect of “those daft RTA small penis speeding advertisements” is that not one single example shows a motorist actually engaged in the act of driving at a speed above the posted limit. Typical RTA idiocy aimed at brainwashing gullible sheep in order to justify their revenue raising.

      Reply

    • Jeremy says:

      09:03am | 29/04/10

      Mate, I would have been in is face in a nano-second, you never cross the honest man, he has principles. Since you didn’t deal with the problem at that point in time you have carrying this around, and now its ended up here. No one can get out of car if you put your weight on the door. I mind my own business on the roads and normally let the idiots pass by, but if someone threatens me, I make sure that they leave the coward, not me. As Ali says float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. I go to bed at sleeping soundly that I did everything I could without breaking the law. That guy doesn’t remember you, but you remember him, that’s the problem. Stick up to Bullies and they back down in an instant.

      Reply

    • Keith says:

      02:58pm | 29/04/10

      Come on this story was first written by Catherine Deveny from Melbourne, were she gleefully boasts of beating up, with an umbrella, a 4 wheel drive vehicle that had the temerity to be on the same road that she was. She boasted that it was her God given duty to drive these monster vehicles off the road. It appears that you also have a God given mission in a similar vein.

      Reply

    • Keith says:

      04:53pm | 29/04/10

      Oh sorry one more thing, the I Promise campaign sound sounds suspiciously similar to The Great Loyalty Oath campaign in the novel Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

    • Teena says:

      04:24pm | 29/04/10

      Society rewards bullies. Anti-social behaviour is not illegal, so they can get everything the want. Nasty people get ahead in this world.

      “The meek will inherit the earth” we can only hope for the future and I don’t see it happening any time soon.

      Reply

    • Jay says:

      05:27pm | 29/04/10

      Spot on mate, cost of living, health and a**holes are my main worries. Our politicians are completely out of touch. Ive personally almost been beating to unconsciosness by 7 or so guys for trying to break up a fight, had friends noses broken on other occasions and we are just nice guys trying to enjoy ourselves while uncivilised people exist. personally and what ive seen anecdotally i blame alcohol mixed with methamphetamines. More recently has been the decline in quality ecstasy pills has led to an increase in many peopl i know taking meth at concerts, for example future music which normally has a peaceful dance crowd and instead had the angriest group of people id ever seen!

      Reply

    • LL says:

      06:23pm | 29/04/10

      On the other side of the coin, I once accidently left my handbag unsupervised in a club for literally 1 minute (stupid I know). I then saw said handbag on another girl, who I approached and asked for my handbag back (I figured it was worth a try). She responded by punching my boyfriend (who I got to ask as I was a tad scared - she was extremely drunk and significantly larger than me with an aggressive look). On a positive note, the police were fantastic and we eventually took her to court and she was charged with assault. I would never wish an experience like this on anybody.

      Reply

    • Joel says:

      11:50pm | 29/04/10

      I’m not sure how this role-model-for-kids system works, but i did not grow up with my parent around me for most my life, but quite surprisingly I did not turn into one of those uncivilised scumbags. Oh did i say “surprisingly”?

      Everyone knows what is right and what is wrong. There absolutely no excuse that someone can’t tell the right from wrong by the time they reach 18 years of age at the very latest, unless they have some mental disability. And if they can’t 1. act lawfully and 2. be remorseful when they are clearly in the wrong, then they do not fit into our civilised society, and quite frankly, they’re wasting space, air and other precious resources. Calling them scumbags is probably too good a word to use on them, as I consider them to be no different to terrorists. And terrorists are the reason we need capital punishment in this country.

      Reply

    • Sam says:

      07:29am | 30/04/10

      I do wonder, was he fully licensed or on P-plates. It seems all that ever happens is a “crack-down” on P-platers. Why not have police on the road all the time looking at everyone not just one specific group.

      You always feel good when you see someone who cut you off or drove insanely gets pulled over by police around the corner

      Reply

    • Jon says:

      11:14am | 30/04/10

      Moral Panic on Hoons, whod’ve thought. I would suggest that your problem is with one Bogan who gave you a hard time when he yelled at you. I do like how all car enthusiasts who drive high performance vehicles get lumped in with these “Hoon Laws”. The Police harass law abiding citizens for the simple fact we drive high performance vehicles all because our governments have no understanding of the motoring demographic. Instead of legislating against bad driving (which we already have laws for) they have legislated against high performance vehicles. I know the argument is “If you aren’t doing anything wrong you have nothing to fear” however in reality it is our experience that this is not the case. The Police are human too, they are susceptible to the corruption that all power brings and they stop us, search our cars, go through our modification permits, check our tyre depths, headlight brightness and window tint purely because they now see us all as hoons. To all you people applauding these laws, how would you feel if your hobby was looked down on by society and you treated as a criminal because of the actions of a few?

      Reply

    • Al says:

      04:07pm | 30/04/10

      The real issue here is the lack of personal consequences for those that flout social norms or committ crimes.  Your silence in this example, while perfectly understandable, only demonstrates the point.  There was no consequence for him flouting social norms and generally being a dick.  Unfortunately as people object less and less out of fear, those that committ the offences feel safer and safer in their behaviour.  This is reinforced by the regular failure of our judicial system to hand out sentences in accordance with community expectations.  An example of this in Canberra several years ago was the suspended sentence for a rapist (who had past convictions for assault and burglary) while a person who travelled 55km/h over the speed limit (but didn’t hit anyone and stopped immediately when the police flagged them over) a month earlier received a 3 month jail term.  Prohibition/bans etc won’t work either unlike some have begun suggestion since for the aforesaid reasons the troublemakers won’t respect them anyway and all that will result is a reduction in the personal freedoms of the obedient and generally silent majority.  Until society (not the police or the judicial system) starts enforcing social norms and these yobbos suffer the consequences of their action (either through a bloody nose or a jail term) things will only get worse.

      Reply

    • LC says:

      07:48pm | 01/06/10

      And you didn’t take his rego because?

      Reply

    • Marc says:

      05:03pm | 14/12/10

      Maybe you should be up to the task before you have a go at someone for something. If you have a go at me because your standards or opinions are different to mine I’d call you an arsehole too. If your going to shake your fist at someone make sure you can back it up tough guy. You’re as big a yobbo as him.

      Reply
 
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