26 September 2023

Police rev up powers to brake hoons

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Queensland’s Police now have new powers to deal with drivers taking part in illegal mass hoon gatherings after new legislation was passed in Parliament.

Minister for Police, Mark Ryan said amendments to the legislation would turn the table on hoons and support police enforcement action against those taking part in the gatherings.

“As a result of these new laws, Police are now equipped with powers which will enable them to serve notices on the owners of vehicles involved in hooning offences,” Mr Ryan said.

“This means if the owner of a vehicle claims they weren’t driving at the time of the offence, it will be up to them to prove it.”

He said road policing units across Queensland would be using high-tech camera technology along with the traffic monitoring CCTV network to target mass hoon gatherings.

“Police are already capturing hooning incidents on new high quality cameras and meticulously reviewing the footage to identify drivers involved to take strong enforcement action,” Mr Ryan said.

“The new laws are a game-changer for police, providing greater flexibility for officers to go after each and every vehicle taking part in illegal hoon events.”

He said the mass gatherings were a disaster waiting to happen and the Government made no apologies for maintaining its strongest stance on hooning in the country.

Assistant Police Commissioner, Road Policing, Ben Marcus said recent hooning events on the Gold Coast had highlighted how dangerous the activities could become.

“The outrageous and despicable acts of hoons have been on display recently where they have not only endangered their own lives and others, but they turned violent on police and media,” Assistant Commissioner Marcus said.

“The community does not accept their reckless antics and police will certainly not tolerate anti-social and dangerous hooning behaviour in our neighbourhoods.”

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