Prev
Next

Great country, shame about the hoons

Paul Colgan

by Paul Colgan

18 Feb 03:01pm

Must Reads

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses - this is a caption

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses

14

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this - this is a caption

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this

50

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it? - this is a caption

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it?

121

Filed under: Crime, Hoons, Property, Statistics

76 comments

Congratulations hoons: you are officially the most annoying people in Australia, by a statistical mile. Almost half - yes, half - of all Australians believe dangerous or noisy driving is a problem in their neighbourhood, according to data published today.

Revenge? Vandalised cars

At first it might seem staggering that 45.3 per cent of Australians say hooning is a problem in their neighbourhood but when you think about it, how surprising is it really? How often are phone conversations or the break-up line in Sex and The City drowned out by some tool gunning his Subaru down the street? And for every single person in the street who has settled in for the evening, the experience is exactly the same.

(While we’re at it can I add to that the guys noodling about on their Harleys, not just the bikies who have an excuse but the middle managers from accounting firms who take out the Chopper after a stressful day of Excel.)

This particular part of the Crime Victimisation report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggests that dangerous and noisy driving is the number one anti-social issue in the country today. Hoons are public enemy No.1.

And what are our main weapons in dealing with it? Traffic-calming measures from local councils - some speed bumps here, a mini-chicane there.

Rounding out the top five for neighbourhood complaints were vandalism / graffiti (35 per cent said it was a problem), housebreakings (29 per cent), drunkenness (21 per cent) and louts and youth gangs (20 per cent).

As an aside, I think it’s excellent that the ABS is collecting data about how Australia feels about louts.

But the overall picture from the report is that despite the reports of pub glassings and random violence that are naturally shocking and so get deserved attention in the press, Australia is a safe place safe country and overwhelmingly, people feel secure living here.

Take this figure, for example: 31 per cent, or almost one in three people, said there were no problems - none at all - in their neighbourhood. That’s a pretty happy bunch of people.

Source: Crime Victimisation, Australia, ABS.

Or that four out of five people feel safe at home alone during the day and while this figure drops after the sun goes down, only 4.3 per cent of people report feeling unsafe after dark.

It’s in no way any comfort to someone who has been beaten up, but the odds that you will be the victim of some kind of assault are relatively tiny. In the survey period, which covered the 12 months up to December 2008, just over 3 people in every one hundred were victims of assault.

There are some interesting bits of data in the tables when you get into the nitty gritty - for example, over 700,000 people were victims of a “threatened assault”, including those of the “face-to-face” and “non face-to-face” variety.

Where is a bloke most likely to be threatened with assault? At work. A quarter of all face-to-face threatened assaults towards men took place at work. The next most common place was out in the street or on the land (19 per cent) and then in the home (18 per cent).

The most common threats of assault to men come from colleagues (11 per cent). Among women who were threatened the most common offenders were an ex (11 per cent) and a neighbour (10 per cent).

The survey is using new methods so next year we’ll be able to start looking for trends in the data. In the meantime you can see the report here.

If you have any questions on the data, leave them in the comments and I’ll answer them if I can.

Most commented

429Australia, you have nothing to fear but fear itself
390There's no one Thomson won't burn to save his skin
333Animal experiments won't cure me from cancer
313Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking
265Who murdered the Arts degree?
246A big day for Thomson, who thus far is guilty of nothing...
231South Australia. It's the middle bottom bit.
231Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...

76 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Michael says:

      07:07pm | 26/04/12

      Maybe the people who have a problem with a loud harley or modified car need a few more burglaries and vandalism to put things in to perspective,

      Reply

    • Proclaimer Racer & Safe Driver says:

      01:52pm | 26/07/11

      Up front, I am an amateur race car driver. I love my car and love racing, but not on the road at the possible expense of others. So am I a hoon?? I would say no.

      The so called Hoon mentality is a result of modern culture and urbanisation. It happens in the country areas, but there are wide open spaces for people to do it and not bother anyone. The result is the urban driver gets labelled a hoon, the country driver either drives home or ends up as a greasy spot on the road. So there is no simple answer to the problem.

      Certainly the recent closure of race tracks around urban areas (Amaroo Park and then Oran Park in Sydney) and the problems opening new tracks when governments spend millions of tax payer dollars on temporary road courses like Olympic Park that line the pockets of promoters do not help.

      Personally, I think mandatory driver training in schools, including graphic examples of when it goes wrong would be a good start. having a relative who can barely drive teach another is no way to start off something that is realistically like guiding a 1.5 tonne missile around suburban streets.

      The other is people taking responsibility for their actions, and that extends across all forms of socially unacceptable behavior.

      As for DJ, its people such as that who say “I am a safe driver as I’ve never had an accident.”. What they fail to conceed is that they have been responsible or cause many in their rear vision mirror that they fail to see as they are too busy patting themselves on the back for their good deeds.

      Reply

    • Car enthusiast not hoon. says:

      04:47pm | 25/07/11

      Open up more tracks at accessible prices, with more frequency, not one event every 3 months 80KM’s away from the CBD…
      This government tends to either ban or tax as a solution to everything.

      Reply

    • John says:

      03:47pm | 21/07/10

      The measures we should take against hoons should come from 3 angles:

      Increased Driver Training:
      - The minimum hours that must be recorded should be increased by 80 hours, and they must spend 30 hours of it with a professional driving instructor.
      - Bring back drivers education classes in secondary schools.
      - In order for a P-plate driver to move onto a full license, they must show proof of a successfully completed defensive driving program.

      Legislative changes:

      - Either do away with the exemptions which allows P-platers to drive high performance cars for employment, or put much stricter controls on it, they can only drive it during specified working hours and days, they must have electronic speed limiters on their cars for example. Make sure this is VERY strictly enforced.
      - Introduction of night curfews for P-platers from 12:00am to 6:00am. If exemptions are to be granted for employment they should be subject to just as much scrutiny as those who are exempt from high-performance vehicle bans for the same reason. If they are going to have a late night, they must plan ahead.

      Increased Penalties:

      A 5 stage penalty plan for hoon drivers and drink/drug drivers:
      - 1st Offence: 1 month impoundment*, license suspension for duration.
      - 2nd Offence: 6 month impoundment*, license suspended for duration
      - 3rd Offence: All cars in the offender’s name are crushed*, license suspended for 18 months.
      - 4th Offence: All cars in the offender’s name are crushed*, they get a criminal record for life, their license is canceled for 3 years, and to get it back they have to resit their 200 hours including 10 at night and 40 with a professional instructor, and in addition they must show evidence that they have helped the emergency services at severe crash scenes and have spent 50 hours caring for road trauma victims in hospitals or rehabilitation centers.
      - 5th Offense and all subsequent ones: All cars in the offender’s name are crushed, and they must serve a mandatory minimum of 5 years jail, and driving disqualification for life.
      - The offender is responsible for paying all costs involved for the impounding and transportation of their car. To guarantee it’s paid, it should be treated like child support; taken straight out of their wage (or more likely, their dole).
      - *The car they were hooning in at the time as well as all others in their name are impounded/crushed. No exemptions apply in cases for when the car belongs to a mate or a family member (so they can’t stop their car being crushed or get it out of the impound lot early by claiming it’s their mum’s/dad’s/sibling’s/mate’s, which is a common tactic they’re using). However, in cases of stolen cars exemptions should apply.
      - Should the offender hoon in a stolen car, or attempt to flee from police at high speed, they are treated like a five time repeat offender even if their slate is clean.
      - Another option which could be looked at is weekend detention (detaining them between 7:30 pm Friday and 7:30 am Monday, or 7:30pm Friday and 7:30pm Tuesdays on long weekends). This will keep them locked up when this kind of stupidity is most likely to happen. During their time there, they should be made to take part in activities such as caring for elderly or the sick, cleaning up graffiti or assisting law enforcement in car accident scenes. Not showing up should be considered in contempt of court and that would mean 24 hours a day and 7 days a week of JAIL.
      - Introduction of severe penalties for P-platers who take down the P-plates in order to get away with driving a fast car or driving in the early hours of the morning.

      Reply

    • Trevil says:

      07:08pm | 21/02/10

      I think you are missing his point, (but I agree is it self righteous) that it is not illegal what he says he does and if people get pissed off that he does it are the people who are the problem. They should be able to control their emotions when driving and not get angry over such little issues.

      Reply

    • Plum says:

      07:02pm | 19/02/10

      Oh my Lord, didn’t even make it halfway down the page, DG is a tool.

      I know, I know, name calling on blogs is bad form, but there is no other way to say it. This person purposely perversely does this to infuriate other people and to luxuriate in the sense of his own by-the-book righteousness. Kind of reminds me of religious zealots too in a strange way. 

      I don’t even drive myself but my blood is already boiling just reading it.

      Reply

    • Eno says:

      02:36pm | 19/02/10

      You are seriously suggesting that people on Welfare can buy 30,000 dollar cars are you Saskia? 

      Surely you can’t be saying people get that much dole money - or are the unemployed all drug dealers on the side??

      Reply

    • Willy K says:

      11:24am | 19/02/10

      The scary thing is that these brain dead creeps have the vote like you and I… AND are COMPELLED to vote by our ridiculous system… AND 99.99% of hoons vote Labor.

      No wonder we have Kevin Rudd.  And with the way these ALP funded welfare ghettos breed, the ALP have bred their own voters.

      Those with an IQ and a work ethic are f’d.

      Reply

    • Saskia says:

      11:54am | 19/02/10

      Spot on.

      Got to love the welfare generation.  Thanks Socialism.

      Reverse Darwinism in practice.

    • Eno says:

      11:52am | 19/02/10

      Willy K where on earth do you pull such a statistic from? You have the call to call hoons braindead when you’re goign to make such ridiculous generalisations based upon your own biases? I guess these blokes pulled up at 160k + in their Ferraris & Lambos aren’t hoons hey? Just ‘gentlemen’ having a good night out?

    • Jenni says:

      11:23am | 19/02/10

      Hoons are the least of my problems in my street. Their twice/thrice-weekly antics barely raise a glimmer of interest anymore.

      Far more annoying is the neighbours across the road who regularly threaten/attempt to kill each other in the middle of the night, accompanied by blood-curdling screams, shouting, various name calling (including the lovely f****** c***), window smashing, etc etc. Yes, this really happens, usually once or twice a week. No point calling the police either, as thetydo it on such a regular basis that they’ve been placed on a “known address” list of sorts and have apparently been judged as being pretty harmless. In other words, because they haven’t ACTUALLY killed each other yet, the police consider it a waste of their time to even respond.

      ... oh, we USED to have a hoon problem in our street sure, but that was mainly the kids in the house NEXT to the aforementioned one BUILDING A MOTORCROSS TRACK IN THEIR FRONT YARD. Again, not kidding. They spent weeks on the thing, building ramps and jumps and corners, and then rode half a dozen pee-wee bikes on it all day. The police didn’t do anything about this one either, as they were on private property at all times.

      Ah, I could go on for days about the fun and games in my street - like recently being broken into for the 3rd time in as many years, or the drug dealers who live two doors down, or the night a young man had a psychotic break (after visiting the drug house) and lay in the middle of the road for 4 hours in a foetal position, rocking back and forth and screeching ...

      Life in the ‘burbs - aint it grand? wink

      Reply

    • Harquebus says:

      10:59am | 19/02/10

      Before we had hoons, we had daredevils on horses. They will always be with us. I was one.
      Give them somewhere where they can hoon to their hearts content.

      Reply

    • James says:

      12:56pm | 19/02/10

      Imagine a burnout or doughnut on a horse.  Sounds fully sick.

    • Sanchez says:

      10:19am | 19/02/10

      “Hooning” needs to be clarified.

      There are plenty of people who own modified cars and drive them responsibly. There are also those that don’t.

      Hoon type behaviour is more likely to be exhibited by those in close to standard cars, with cheap modifications, than by someone who has “invested” serious money.

      Traffic calming can make the problem worse from a noise prespective as cars have to decelerate then accelerate to negotiate the obstacles.

      I can’t give you an answer, but it’s an interesting topic

      Reply

    • KT says:

      10:18am | 19/02/10

      Hooning legislation in WA is a disaster.  Car enthusiests are unfairly targeted as the police and the community have made the cruel generalisation that owning an “interesting” car is the same as being a dangerous driver and nuisance to society.  There is also discrimmination against young men.  I personally, and my husband have been at the butt of police harrassment (they like following us home to look over the car and my husband is “known” to local police, for what we know not) for over 10 years over the CLEAN, SAFE and BEAUTIFUL cars we drive.  The police have no reason to harrass us, we have GOOD driving records…. and our cars in great condition.  The police need to be inspired to fight the REAL crime of anti social behaviours by legislation that increases penalties for violent crimes, and decreases the trading hours of drinking houses.  Also the police behaviour in relation to hoon legislation makes me REALLY worried about this new stop and search law (WA).  My hubby has dark skin….. and likes wearing black,,,,, I wonder what generalisation they can make of that…...

      Reply

    • Vern says:

      08:57am | 19/02/10

      Agree with the road rage bit, but how about not stereotyping modified car owners. There are people who modify cars to enhance themselves, then there are people who modify cars to enhance their car and therefore the drive.

      It’s only in the last 10 years or so that cars have become silent, at the sacrifice of economy, when in the ‘80’s cars where all loud. So now when a car makes the slightest noise, you get an evil look from everyone around, even if your the only one obeying the speed limited and being tailgated by the Audi driver who can’t control his patients because he wants to get to work in 2 seconds flat and he didn’t leave early enough to get to his meeting.

      A just think a little tolerance goes a long way. If some young tool is doing a burn out in the middle of the street, yeah that’s unsafe and just plain dumb. But if someone just happens to have a modified car and you can hear, doesn’t mean their a bad person.

      Chill out man, you’ll live longer.

      Reply

    • acker says:

      06:51am | 19/02/10

      Tony Abbotts car was almost backended by a truck that thought it could travel at the maximum speed limit between Geelong and Warnambool un-impeded by drivers who might actualy want to turn off the road.

      Hoons pale into insignificience compared to tail gating Turkeys like that.

      Then the Turkeys boss had the nerve to complain…cripes what planet are some (small percentage not all) of these transport operators on ?

      Reply

    • acker says:

      04:55pm | 19/02/10

      @Kim ...yes you can, most of the interstate ones have already got a speed limiter on them, you might have noticed a sticker on semi trailer back bumpers with 100 in a red circle speed limited, it would’nt take much to change them from 100 kph to 80 kph. And if they are all on the same speed limit, who the hell are they competing against to get the goods delivered faster ????

      Trains ?
      Ship’s ?
      Planes ?
      Helicopters ?

    • Kim says:

      03:33pm | 19/02/10

      Acker, they could put an 80kmh speed limit on trucks, but they’d still speed.  There’s nothing stopping them.  Maybe the government should spend their money by introducing a computer speed limit on the actual road itself.  All new cars / trucks nowadays have computers.  How hard would it be to place computer speed limits on the cats eyes or the road barriers on the road that automatically sets a cars speed limit to the road limit applied? The government certainly spends an inordinate amount of money on speed cameras, I don’t see why they can’t limit the speed of a moving vehicle via computers…..  Of course, the speed “monitors” should allow up to 10 kmh over the normal speed to allow motorists to overtake slower drivers etc.  Is there are reason we couldn’t implement this?  Apart from the fact that it is logical and logic doesn’t seem to come into any government planning?

    • acker says:

      03:06pm | 19/02/10

      @Tom ..a 20 tonne truck moving at 80kph is probably about 20% safer and stops 20% shorter in distance than one travelling 100kph or perhaps even the ones that travel 110kph +

      If all the trucks were limited to travel at travelling 80 kph wouldn’t the unions drivers be safer ?

    • Tom says:

      02:27pm | 19/02/10

      acker, I think there needs to be a crack down on the dangerous behaviour of the drivers. An 80km/h limit is all well and good (although it is politically unpalatable - the unions would have a field day), but a 20+ tonne truck moving at 80km/h is still dangerous in the wrong hands

    • acker says:

      02:00pm | 19/02/10

      I note Abbotts car stops 56 seconds into the ABC News youtube video, the truck fly’s past what I think is an empty school bus 6-7 seconds later.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFW6h3PPZU0

      It’s a bit rich to say they just stopped dead in the middle of the road, plenty of times people even trucks stop and turn right into lanes and driveways.

      For cripesake let’s put a 80 kph speed limiter on all trucks registered to carry over 12 tonne.

    • Tom says:

      10:43am | 19/02/10

      You’re not wrong, there is something extremely rotten in the trucking industry. The amount of trucks I see tailgating, speeding etc. is absolutely ridiculous. Of course they never get any punishment as the police seem more intent on the quick and easy revenue from pulling people over for doing 3km/h over the limit, rather than truly dangerous driving.

      The comments of the boss of the trucker that almost hit Tony Abbott were insane; he suggested the car should pull over to the left before turning right. And here I was thinking that a) it is entirely legal to turn right off such a highway and b) it is the responsibility of following drivers to leave enough space and travel at a speed that enables them to avert the risk of an accident without resorting to such drastic manoeuvres as demonstrated by that driver. 

      Truckies are constantly bleating about how car drivers need to take into account the weight and lack of manoeuvrability of trucks, but they don’t seem to do so themselves. I was always taught to drive within the limits of the condition of the road/weather and the vehicle, but a lot of truckers don’t seem to do so.

    • nick says:

      11:31pm | 18/02/10

      i like how the report puts dangerous driving and noisy driving into the same thing, yep because there really linked together

      Reply

    • Robert Smissen says:

      10:42pm | 18/02/10

      Hoon behavior isn’t that big, governments are always havering on about P platers/hoons yet statistics don’t back up the rhetoric. In SA so far this year 26 people have died yet only ONE was a P plate driver. I suggest that all you whiny posters find an interest like Macrame or stamp collecting, you know, something out there & radical

      Reply

    • pete says:

      09:37am | 19/02/10

      yeah good idea, but we will be so busy doing that, so make sure you book your undertaker and burial plot before you go, because we wont have time.  hooning is moronic behaviour end of story.

    • Ben says:

      09:35am | 19/02/10

      Check your stats mate, this is not right.

    • nick says:

      10:37pm | 18/02/10

      hooning has only become such a big issue because of all the media hype, hoons are very far from the worst issue on our roads

      @ the ppl that say police are doing anything about “hoons” thats just not true, drive a modified car for abit and you’ll notice how much the police harass you not because of how you drive but what u drive

      Reply

    • Mrniceguy351 says:

      10:51pm | 18/02/10

      Well said. I live in Perth and i havent seen a decent burnout in years, yet according to the media and blogs like this they are the scourge of society.

    • Daniel says:

      10:28pm | 18/02/10

      The hoons are a rotten part of Australia. They never seem to change or grow up.When will Austraians learn?

      Reply

    • LET THERE BE PEACE says:

      08:06pm | 18/02/10

      Let’s introduce Sharia Law.  Gosh! hold onto your knickers!!!! Now that would most certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons.

      Reply

    • S.L says:

      07:02pm | 18/02/10

      Now without my glasses I can see in the picture an R31 Skyline that’s been graffitied and I think a VX/VT Commodore complete with boot spoiler burnt out on I assume the owners front lawn.
      Good for you whoever did this if in fact these two cars were used as “hoonmobiles” in your partricular area.
      I think the main problem with these idiots is lack of discipline! Anyone reading this who’s my age (mid 40s) or older would have seen the difference in what the law is allowed to do now compared with not so politically correct times of 25 years ago! In plain English WE WOULD’VE HAD OUR ARSES KICKED!” by the law and our parents if we were caught doing stuff like these Einstiens do!

      Reply

    • S.L says:

      12:12pm | 19/02/10

      What do you refer to as the “no good” that your olds got up to in the 70s and early 80s Katie? You infer you grew up in a country town. I know a few old retired country coppers who’ve told me when they were transfered to a new town the first thing on their agenda was to find they local troulble maker and “beat the hell out of him” to show there’s a new “sheriff” in town. I’ve never known a boy (or girl)  in blue to be really friendly about anybody being stupid

    • Katie says:

      09:49am | 19/02/10

      Interesting, I dont agree with that…..  My olds were always up to no good back in the late 70s early 80s, and the stuff for me is an eye opener…...  and my interpretation was that the police were really friendly about it all….. ...  Back then it was realised that boys will be boys…..  But I suppose thats how country towns are….....

    • nick says:

      10:55pm | 18/02/10

      the law didnt care about hooning 25 years ago, if they busted a group of people doing burnouts of drag racing then they would just tell them to go home

    • Dr Glen Fuller says:

      06:56pm | 18/02/10

      Excellent piece, if only to indicate that hooning per se is not a road safety issue and it is actually more a noise problem with social ramifications. Last time I looked at road safety stats, drink driving was still the number one road safety problem.
      When the so-called ‘hoon menace’ is properly defined as a problem, ie noise and the obnoxious presence of young men in flash cars on the road, then proper solutions can be found for it. Instead, however, we have lazy politicians banging on about hoons being a road safety problem. Way back when the NSW parliamentary committee tabled the Staysafe report (number 51, if I remember correctly) on the first of the anti-hoon laws introduced in the mid-1990s, it was pointed out then by an engineer talking about burnouts that hooning is not actually a road safety problem.
      I wrote a book chapter about the ‘hoon’ moral panics a few years ago, available here: http://eventmechanics.net.au/?page_id=622 It might help a few people who have not had any experience with youthful car culture and the centrality of car culture to many people growing up.
      The main point is this: When hooning becomes properly defined as a social problem, the question then becomes one of whether as a society we want young men to pull their heads in and jump from childhood to middle age and stop annoying all the respectable rate-paying mortgagees living in the suburban heartland or do we accept a little bit of youthful stupidity as part of the process of growing up.

      Reply

    • Rod J'That says:

      02:39pm | 19/02/10

      @Dr Glen Fuller. I haven’t read your chapter, sorry, I’m waiting for the mini-series. I hear that both Jeremy Clarkson and Vin Diesel are fighting over who gets to play you. While I’m struggling to make sense of your latest post I can’t help thinking that your view of this issue is through the tinted window of a purple Sandman. Anyway, better get back to your patients, Doc.

    • Dr Glen Fuller says:

      01:19pm | 19/02/10

      @Rod J’That indeed, anti-social behaviour. Have you read my chapter? My problem is with lazy governments treating hooning as a road safety problem when it is not. So-called ‘hooning’ accounts for very little death or injury on the road. Majority? 45% of people who think hooning is a problem is not a majority. 55% of people either don’t care or don’t think it is a problem in their suburb.

      Ok, by your logic, we tackle drink driving as the same sort of problem as we would tackle something called ‘car culture’ as a problem? Your point does not make sense. Governance is the art of isolating problems, defining them and then finding solutions. Trying to combine a problem such as drink driving with something far more general as ‘car culture’ is going in the wrong direction.

      @Helen, you mistake me for a small-L bleeding heart liberal. I don’t care about people’s rights. I assume most people are stupid and therefore should have less control over expressing their desires and ‘individuality’. I am an elite, over-educated snob.

      In terms of solving the mobility crisis in places like Sydney, I feel everyone should be catching public transport or riding/walking to work. Automobility is not a right, it is a privilege. I enjoy driving, that is why I don’t want the experience diluted by having to travel down Parramatta road every morning. I enjoy far greater freedom cycling to work, and catching trains/walking to social engagements. Driving is a last resort.

      You confuse the broader issue of people believing automobility is a right with the spectacle of ritualised displays performed by mostly young men in cars. I am pretty sure that most young men performing these ritualised displays do not think it is a right.

      Most older car enthusiasts will advocate an ethics of ‘the right time and place’. Historically, this used to mean doing burnouts and racing in out-of-the-way light industrial estates. Now most capital cities and large country towns/centres have race tracks, drag strips or they are currently trying to build them. The right time and place for the ritualised displays that are part of car enthusiast subcultures is now found in these off-street locations. There will not be too many actual car enthusiasts who do not agree with this.

      Perhaps you should reframe your self-righteous indignation and ask what sort of culturally barren society we live in where young blokes think it is cool to hang out in a car park somehere in the middle of the night and do burnouts? What sort of satisfaction do they get from this? I can understand those blokes who have built their car showing off, and feeling proud of their creations, but the peanuts in poorly maintained cars who drop a burnout to show off are not doing it because they are car enthusiasts. They are doing it because they are bored, have little formal education, and have very few rewarding cultural activities available to them.

    • Rod J'That says:

      12:20pm | 19/02/10

      I think you need to be cautious about treating hooning simply as ‘a little bit of youthful stupidity’. If it’s anti-social behaviour then it’s anti-social behaviour, and the majority needn’t tolerate it, particularly when it’s part of a car ‘culture’ that kills and injures people.

      The ‘centrality of car culture to many people growing up’ doesn’t magically legitimise hooning, any more than, say, the centrality of gun culture to some people growing up would legitimise those people firing their rifles in suburban streets.

      You should also be careful not to conclude that drink driving deaths don’t include an element of ‘car culture’. A driver with an affection for ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and their inhibitions loosened by a few beers and a car full of encouraging friends may well be more inclined to drive irresponsibly than someone who’s simply had a few beers and just wants to get home safely.

    • Helen says:

      10:19am | 19/02/10

      It’s a measure of our incredible first-world privilege that it’s just “part of the process of growing up” to burn up fossil fuels at a deliberately accelerated rate, as well as those burnouts which fill the air with thick clouds of choking fumes for everyone else to breathe as well as them. Whatever gave some commenters the idea that this is some kind of “right”? The whiny babies of the western world need to grow the hell up sometimes.

    • JdR says:

      04:53pm | 18/02/10

      I just don’t understand why ‘noisy’ cars are legal.  Driver control allows hoons to choose to be noisy of course (eg burnouts) for whatever dopey reason, but there are plenty of cars that seem designed to be noisy. 

      You know, the ones with the large bore mufflers that don’t muffle much. 

      Surely in changing the national standards there’s a pile of votes for Mr Rudd there, and in enforcing such standards there’s a bunch of votes for the State police and transport ministers.  More than they’d lose by getting a bunch of little dicks needing big pipes offside.

      Reply

    • Nick says:

      10:57pm | 18/02/10

      there is a limit to how loud your car can be, if its to loud then your car is defected

    • Sadhbh says:

      03:50pm | 18/02/10

      I’ve lived in a few cities here, including Melbourne, Wagga and Brisbane, and for some bizarre reason Perth surburbia was the worst for hooning. On a few occasions in the months I was there, I was walking home at dusk or after and a car would speed by with the people inside howling out the windows at me.
      I never did work out what they got out of this, although one theory was that they were desperately roaring “help, where are the brakes on this thing?!?”

      Reply

    • James says:

      09:22am | 19/02/10

      That happens a lot in Canberra too Sadhbh.  I think these men have an issue with that fact that we are not bogans.  If you want to avoid it in future, wear a fake tan and an Ed Hardy t-shirt.

    • bella starkey says:

      03:45pm | 18/02/10

      I feel the same way as this about motorised gardening equiptment used on the weekend before midday,

      Reply

    • Adam says:

      10:47pm | 18/02/10

      Actually, DB is committing an offence called obstruction of the flow of traffic. It would be karmic justice at work for you to get fined and lose the demerit points for it.

    • Macca says:

      03:48pm | 18/02/10

      Lol Bella

    • Martin G says:

      03:16pm | 18/02/10

      Good article. I am tired dealing with these morons while driving, and hearing them roar up the street.

      Of course, most of this behaviour goes unseen by the police, while they sit behind a speed camera trying to catch people going 6km/h over the limit. There’s half your problem - the wrong people are being targetted.

      Memo to hoons - no-one cares about your crappy Skyline that every other 19-year-old tryhard has.

      Reply

    • Andrew K says:

      09:22am | 22/02/10

      DG, thank you for your self proclaimed mission to save everyone from themselves. If you are driving a Hyundai or Subaru particularly then you are more likely to be travelling at 74km/h in an 80 zone (speedo tolerances as per ADR are up to 10% and Hyundai and Subaru’s are the marques that err on the side of caution most). So that’s all well and good then…

      But alternatively my young wife sufferred a medical condition that was extremely serious and she was 30 seconds from death. The phenominal surgical team that saved her life had to rush to the OR. They were not in marked cars. They would have broken the law, but they saved my wife’s life.  Thank god some sanctimonius ‘road guardian’ was not around to the save them from what would obviously been certain death, but then actually cause a certain death (no sarcasm this time) by their actions.

      Drive to keep yourself safe, nothing more. Want to do more than that, join the Highway Patrol.

      Don’t make assumptions about why others are in a hurry.

      If someone is in a hurry, it could be for a reason. Don’t assume its always just idiots.

    • SP1man says:

      06:37pm | 19/02/10

      DG, How many wing mirrors have you lost doing this manouver? I love nothing more than riding in between the 2 cars disrupting the flow of traffic (a manouver called lane filtering which you will find is perfectly legal also) with my twin Leo Vinci exhausts (E can rated and also perfectly legal) shaking both cars causing an obstruction like only a V-Twin can. Unfortunately this has angered some drivers and made them feel inclined to swerve at me, at which stage I just zip through and watch in my mirrors as their wing mirror smashes on the car next to them.

    • DG says:

      02:34pm | 19/02/10

      TFH

      Actually I do check my speedo regularly. I can spend a bit of time on the road and the last thing I want is to get a speeding ticket.

      As described above - this only occurs where I attempt to pass a person who is driving below the speed limit who then achieves the speed limit before I have completed overtaking. Clearly I am not permitted to accelerate further speed to get in front, nor can I reasonably slow down if there is a car behind me. The fact that I enjoy such circumstances is irrelevant. I do not go out of my way to prevent other cars from speeding but, if I happen to do so, it brings joy to my heart. (there is virtually no other circumstance in which this can arise, if the person in front is doing the speed limit I wont be overtaking, if I successfully pass the person I return to the left lane (despite the fact that I am under no legal obligation to do so).

      I do find myself torn when going from an 80 to 100 or 110k zone when I attempt to overtake a driver who accelerates slowly but then exceeds the speed limit (some people just don’t like being overtaken) - In those cases I usually continue at the speed limit and wait for a safe opportunity to return to the left lane (as I am legally required to do).  Again, I am not permitted to speed and slowing to find a gap may cause an obstruction, but until I can safely return to the left lane I have little choice.

    • DG says:

      01:48pm | 19/02/10

      Ish (02:15pm | 19/02/10)

      That rule only applies where the speed limit exceeds 80kph, or the length of road concerned is subject to a “keep left unless overtaking” sign.

      There are plenty of sections of road to which that rule does not apply. I drive along a couple on the way to work each day.

    • TFH says:

      01:33pm | 19/02/10

      @DG - had your speedo officially calibrated recently? If not, how do you know you are travelling at the maximum speed permitted? Hint, you probably aren’t - most speedos are optimistic.

      It’s (un)common courtesy to always pass and return to the left lane quickly, and not our job to pass judgement on other drivers. Road rage, and enjoying creating it, is a bad thing.

    • Ish says:

      01:15pm | 19/02/10

      So DG you don’t mind disobeying the whole “Keep left unless overtaking” rule but you judge others who may creep over the speed limit.

    • DG says:

      01:12pm | 19/02/10

      Adam (11:47pm | 18/02/10)

      I presume that you are referring to section 6 of the Summary Offences Act (in New South Wales).

      I think you’ll find it difficult to convince a judge that traveling as fast as fast is one is legally allowed to travel could constitute a wilful obstruction of traffic and further that it is not a “reasonable excuse” that the person was travelling as fast as legally permitted on the road concerned.

      Now, if a person were to deliberately slow down, then perhaps a case could be made for a “wilful obstruction”, but so long as the person drives at or near the speed limit, given that increasing speed would be an offence, how could one interpret that as an obstruction?

      To continue, I suspect that you will find that obstruction requires interference, to a reasonable extent, with the the right to use the road. I would suggest that driving at the speed limit does not create any such obstruction.

      Ultimately, it appears that the offence to which you refer relates to marches, protests, picket lines and the likes which seek to prevent persons from using the road for its intended purpose. It does not appear attempt to limit an individuals reasonable exercise of the right to use a road for its intended purpose. Presumably diving at the speed limit is the use of the road for its intended purpose, and such a lawful use should not be considered a “wilful obstruction”.

      I would be interested to read your arguments to the contrary.

    • DG says:

      11:15am | 19/02/10

      Lizz Robb (05:30pm | 18/02/10)

      I have no problem frustrating any persons attempt to break the law, when I may do so without breaking the law myself, no matter how high it pushes their blood pressure

      ShaneO (07:26pm | 18/02/10)

      My behaviour allows traffic to flow at the maximum legally permissible speed. It only hinders people who are intent on breaking the law and, quite frankly, I don’t give a **** if it annoys them.

      Are you suggesting that I should speed to pass the person in the left hand lane or that I should slow down, with the lunatic behind me, until someone lets me into the left lane?

      Ultimately, Why should I go out of my way to allow another person to break the law? While I don’t go out of my way to block these people, I do get a warm fuzzy feeling that I am doing something to prevent people breaking the law. It really only occurs when joining a two lane road the person in front does not accelerate quickly. Naturally, I change lanes and accelerate at my own pace (rather than tailgating the person) and I then stay in my lane until I have reason to change lanes.

      Since this seems to have been missed - I don’t do it for there people who disregard the law - I wish for nothing more than for them to get caught by the police, lose their licence and pay a nice big fine. I do it because nothing annoys me more than people breaking the law without consequence.

    • ShaneO says:

      06:26pm | 18/02/10

      DG who appointed you the guardian of everyone else’s licence?!

      You behaviour reduces traffic flow and increases the chances of an accident.

      I don’t condone speeding but I condone even less self righteous tools claiming they are doing everyone a favour.

      Don’t be surprised if someone shows their ‘appreciation’ for your act of altruism by smashing your window with a wheel brace.

    • Lizz Robb says:

      04:30pm | 18/02/10

      DG

      Actually this behaviour contributes to the problem because it only aggravates the situation. If you cause a driver to slow down and s/he gets frustrated, it might increase his/her blood pressure and can cause the speeding driver to be even more reckless.

      Someone we know did exactly what you say you do the other day on her way to work. She ended up being really stressed by the road rage she witnessed. I believe she would have been much better off moving over, letting the car past and continuing on her way.

    • DG says:

      04:13pm | 18/02/10

      Lizz Robb & Martin G-

      There is nothing better than sitting right along side another car traveling at 60kph (in a 60 zone) or 80kph (in an 80 zone) and laughing at all of the suckers that are trying to exceed the signposted speed limit. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that I am doing my bit to help these people and make sure that they don’t get an inconvenient speeding ticket.

      I appreciate that the law requires me to keep in the left lane if the speed limit is higher than 80kph, and I do comply with that law - nothing is more annoying than a person doing 80 in the right hand lane on the freeway - but, as I said, nothing gives me greater joy than the knowledge that I’ve helped someone keep their driver licence despite their own disregard for the laws of this State and their reckless indifference towards the safety of their passengers, pedestrians or other road users.

    • Martin G says:

      04:01pm | 18/02/10

      Spot on Liz Robb, re overtaking lanes. Here in SA, you would be forgiven for thinking this rule does not exist, given how many people ignore it or don’t know about it.

    • Lizz Robb says:

      03:41pm | 18/02/10

      Re. the wrong people being targeted, I agree. I think the slow/hesitant drivers should be targeted, together with the ones than block the overtaking lanes.

    • Lizz Robb says:

      03:07pm | 18/02/10

      Honestly, this is such drivel! Having been burgled recently, I can tell you that I have been far more affected by this burglary than the total impact of all the so called “hoons” on my life. Give me hooning to burglary/crime any day!

      In defence of young people, some of the driving that is described as “hooning” is far from it.

      All I have to say is watch those labels. I feel for young people these days. Having two boys myself, I have to point out that there is a significant amount of discrimination of young males in particular in our society.

      Reply

    • Bitten says:

      04:04pm | 19/02/10

      Helen, bravo!!! Congratulations on being a parent who understands the hardest part of parenting - having the courage and determination to raise a fine, upstanding human being! I’m sure your son is a tribute to you.

    • Helen says:

      07:57am | 19/02/10

      As the mother of a son myself, can I point out that
      -criticism of behaviour doesnt’ necessarily constitute a criticism of a whole group
      -The fact that many people are nervous of young men is due to the actions of a large minority, which is unfortunate, but
      -I am not going to give that minority a free pass on their awful behaviour because somebody’s poor feelings might be hurt, and I’m not going to enable that kind of behaviour in my boy by saying “boys will be boys” / “mens’ sexual urges are uncontainable, therefore it’s the girls’ responsibility not to get raped or assaulted” (that’s slightly O/T but part of the phenomenon), or quoting some dubious piece of poorly researched “evolutionary psychology” - relayed through the mass media - to assert that being full of male hormones, boys just can’t be expected to behave themselves.

      I’m not going to subject my boy to the tyranny of low expectations. He has the potential to be a fine human being and so would many of these “hoons” if society didn’t enable their behaviour with the abounding violent or obnoxious stereotypes of how to be male.

    • acker says:

      02:53pm | 18/02/10

      And commercial television abstains from the blame while it scoops in advertising revenue from shows such as Top Gear, V8 Supercars, Formula One and movies like The Fast An Furious, Gone in 60 Seconds..etc, etc, etc
      About time the media accepts that it is central to this problem.

      Reply

    • hoonwithhonor says:

      04:33pm | 25/07/11

      dont u have anything else better to do. its like saying everyone goes out to kill after they watch saw

    • acker says:

      06:09pm | 18/02/10

      @J says: 4:35pm…......“Debbie does Dallas” was also for entertainment purposes only, yet none of those media outlets are showing that.

    • Lizz Robb says:

      04:38pm | 18/02/10

      Rod J’That makes a lot of sense.

    • Rod J'That says:

      04:31pm | 18/02/10

      I agree with acker, although I wouldn’t pin the blame exclusively on commercial TV. All of those shows, movies, and events are part of a celebration - a veneration - of the car in our culture that contributes directly not just to hooning but to death and injury. If we were serious as a society about reducing the road toll then we could start by treating cars as machines to get us safely from A to B, not like pets to be dressed up and named, or extensions of our personalities and egos. The problem with cars is cultural, and hooning is part of that culture.

    • Macca says:

      03:46pm | 18/02/10

      I Disagree acker,
      Boxoffice success for the SAW movies or record sales for First Person Shooters hasn’t resulted in a huge rise in violence over the last decade.
      People understand the difference between fantasy and driving appropriately comes from maturity and respect for the vehicle and for the road conditions.

      If you want to look at a cause for hoons, look towards the Manufacturers. I’ll put it this way, if every car was as powerful as a Prius there would be less hoons.

      Is it any wonder we keep seeing Teens die in certain cars?

    • J says:

      03:35pm | 18/02/10

      Oh for Christ’s sake, acker.  Those shows are for ENTERAINMENT purposes only.  It comes back to the age old question - if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you do it as well?

      People who can’t tell the difference between driving a car in controlled conditions around a track, and driving it on a busy suburban street, shouldn’t own a car in the first place.

      Get a grip.

    • Schnicka says:

      02:47pm | 18/02/10

      I guess it also means there’s a lot of pinky wiggling going on

      Reply

    • Castro says:

      02:47pm | 18/02/10

      I can’t say I have ever watched Sex in the City; but I would rather be forced to listen to a thousand Subaru’s drive down the street than give it a try.

      Reply

    • Sanchcy says:

      10:12am | 19/02/10

      Spot on Castro!

    • Lizz Phillips says:

      03:37pm | 18/02/10

      @ Castro - Fully agree!

 
Comment

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Paul Colgan

Colgo 25 May 12 10:37PM

Greece makes the final and Ireland gets in on a golden ticket. How awkward and embarrassing. Love it. #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 10:00PM

Every single #eurovision band is roxette #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 09:58PM

The weird thing about #eurovision is you've got this massive collection of dorks in a room and no one is wearing Spock ears #sbseurovision

Anthony Sharwood

antsharwood 25 May 12 09:52PM

Europe has the large hadron collider which is light years ahead of its time and #eurovision, where the eighties never die

See all tweets

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses

by Claire Mallinson

14

Eurovision can’t drown out the human rights abuses

Last year, thousands of Azerbaijanis spontaneously took to the streets of Baku shouting and chanting.…

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this

by The Punch Team

50

Revenge. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than this

Last month, Katy McCaffrey boarded the Disney Wonder cruiseliner. At some point during the trip, a sneaky…

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it?

by Tory Maguire

121

Friday dilemma: can school bullies grow out of it?

ClubsNSW is set to introduce a fresh new effort to combat schoolyard intimidation, insisting on a principal’s…

Light weight

Gentle jabs to the ribs

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more

243 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free daily Punch newsletter

Subscribe to The Punch RSS feed