Drivers face huge fines and three years jail

Fiv Antoniou looks at new ‘hoon’ legislation and offers some alternative options


Since the December 20 last year when the Victorian Police Pursuits legislation took effect, drivers who do a ‘runner’ from police are now liable to face up to three years jail. This means that fleeing from police and leading police officers in pursuits, or car chases, is now an indictable offence and punishable by a maximum of three years in prison.
The Police Pursuits legislation is part of a package to make roads safer together with the tough new ‘hoon’ laws which have cars impounded if used in unruly behaviour. Since tough new ‘hoon’ laws were introduced in 2011, the number of vehicle impoundments has increased by approximately 20 per cent to more than 4,140 in 2012 compared with the previous financial year.
In effect, the Victorian Government will hit ‘hoons’ with huge costs as they will not only get their vehicle impounded but will be thousands of dollars out of pocket once all fines and costs, including the cost of completing the Safe Driving Program came, are implemented.
The Safe Driving Program will be mandatory for any driver found guilty of excessive speeding, loss of traction ‘burnouts’, or street racing and who have their vehicle impounded or immobilised. The fee for the program, which will be rolled out this year, is approximately $1,000, allowing VicRoads to fully recover costs over five years. ‘Hoon’ drivers must complete this program to prove that they deserve to be allowed back on the road.
The new costs, hard-hitting court fines, vehicle impoundment fees, drivers caught ‘hooning’ in 2013 could be slugged with financial penalties of up to $5,000. There may also be further costs incurred to get the impounded car into a roadworthy condition before it goes back on the road.
The Safe Driving Program will apply to offenders found guilty of:
Exceeding the speed limit by 45 km/h or more (or 145 km/h in 110 km/h zone); Improper use of a motor vehicle involving loss of traction by one or more wheels; Careless driving involving improper use of a motor vehicle; Dangerous driving involving improper use of a motor vehicle or driving in excess of the speed limit by 45 km/h or more or travelling at 145 km/h in 110 km/h zone; Failing to have proper control of the vehicle in circumstances involving improper use of a motor vehicle; Organising or engaging in a race/speed trial on public roads; or Causing a vehicle to make excessive noise or smoke.
When an offender is ordered to undertake a Safe Driving Program within a specified time frame, but fails to do so, the offender will be subject to an indefinite licence suspension.
The minister, Mr. Mulder said, “This Government is focused on not only removing these people from the road, but changing their behaviour to prevent them from re-offending.”
All good and well that the Government is looking after our safety, but there are motorists out there who beg to differ on the definition of ‘hoon’ and the media has a lot to answer for the ‘hoon’ branding, which under Federal law may also be interpreted as vilification. Left to an overzealous police officer’s interpretation of an offence, a driver can have their vehicle impounded for an emergency stop (locking wheels and screeching tyres) or for as little as having their fog lights on a fine day.
It is also a dilemma that Australian drivers are restricted to an average of 100 km/h on freeways (which by European road safety and police standards is considered to be a speed which creates a lack of concentration, causes boredom and drowsiness) when European drivers can legally travel in excess of 200 km/h on their freeways with fewer collisions. A classic case of one country’s ‘hoon’ another being country’s model driver!
The Safe Driving Program the Government is proposing would better serve the community if it was mandatory (at a cost of $1,000) for all drivers before they qualify for their drivers licence and not after they have committed an offence. Driver education, proper mechanical knowledge and defensive handling of a vehicle under all road conditions will be more effective than the easy licence tests we have today. The German driver education and licence program costs around $3000 to complete before a driver qualifies for their driver’s licence.
Ask yourself this question: How many of our drivers would not be on the road today if they were required to pass a safety, mechanical and skidpan control test before obtaining their drivers licence? Not many indeed!
Parents should also bear a huge responsibility for the road toll. The Government need to make it illegal for a young P-plate driver to drive any vehicle that is more than five years old from the year of gaining their licence. Australians have a tendency to burden young inexperienced drivers with the 15 year old family hack with no ABS or modern safety equipment and would probably fail a road-worthy test – A recipe for disaster.
Impounding or crushing cars (this is even if the ‘hoon’ was using a car not their own) is not the answer. It’s a violation of civil rights. Of course we don’t have a bill of rights in Australia and that allows our legislators to do anything they want. A ‘hoon’ can drive another car with impunity during the impound period, so what good is that? It may be wiser to suspend the offenders’s licence for 30 days and stopping them from driving, period. Much easier and cost effective tearing up a licence than crushing a car!
The Government can save time and money by utilizing resources already in existence instead of creating draconian legislation on the advice of desk bound traffic safety consultants.
If Government authorities want to be seen doing something, introduce a special SUV drivers supplementary licence test regardless of age and gender. Impose a revenue raising surcharge on SUV annual registration fees, with safety hazard bull-bars banned in metropolitan areas. Reduce the alcohol limit to ‘zero’ for all drivers and then suspend their licence on the spot if they register more than .01 in a police breath test.
Annual mandatory road-worthy inspections of every vehicle registered will have the effect of reducing the number mechanically unsafe cars on our roads. This can be implemented by State registration authorities, which can also refuse to register ‘heavily modified’ vehicles and eliminating the ‘hoon’ element off loud, smoking and backyard turbo/ supercharged cars. Unless vehicles are properly modified and certified by an engineering shop with all the safety upgrades met for brakes, suspensions, wheels and electronics before any modifications to the power train is allowed, the vehicle should not be on our roads.
The authorities can’t keep making legislation to fit the lowest common denominator and it’s time for this Government to raise the bar and get rid of all the ‘hoons’ including unsafe (driving more than 5 km slower than the speed limit), hesitant, frightened and mechanically challenged drivers!
With these measures in place most of the ‘hoon’ element on our roads will disappear overnight. Unfortunately this Government hasn’t the courage to meet the challenge, as it is all about easy revenue and votes rather than common sense.