Vic's oldest hoon, 79, has car seized

[black as]

A 79-year-old man driving his 1999 Mitsubishi Magna sedan at 160km/h in a 100km/h zone has become Victoria's oldest hoon.

Police said they first spotted him near Kalkee, in Victoria's north-west, driving 160km/h about 1.25pm on Wednesday and finally pulled him over 23km from this sighting in Dooen.

His car will be seized under the hoon law and he will be charged on summons with driving at a dangerous speed and exceeding the speed limit, police said.

Police are dismayed that this is not an isolated incident and only in January nabbed a 78-year-old driving a hotted up Nissan Pulsar allegedly driving 170km/h in a 100km/h zone, in Warragul, east of Melbourne.

Sergeant Harrington said it was disappointing to see that senior members of the community were not leading by example.

"We're sick of hearing people's excuses. To drive at such a high speed is inexcusable, no matter what the circumstances," he said.

"To put people's safety, and your own, at such risk is really just toying with death."

Police have impounded 1,768 vehicles in 2009 and 8,345 since the new legislation was introduced in July 2006

[minux]

Hmm Im confused...since when is speeding being a hoon? Does this mean every person who speeds is a hoon?

Sick of hearing the word hoon. With all these oldies being hoons, it may mean no one will have passengers and everyone will have to drive on their own

[Maci]

it may mean no one will have passengers and everyone will have to drive on their own

then there will be MORE hoons , more cars, more idiots behind the wheel instead of passengers.

[black as]

Hmm Im confused...since when is speeding being a hoon? Does this mean every person who speeds is a hoon?

Sick of hearing the word hoon. With all these oldies being hoons, it may mean no one will have passengers and everyone will have to drive on their own

So true, the old codger could be a very good driver, so why call him a hoon, speeding yes but hoon "NO"

[thestig]

Just goes to show that the speed limits on country roads are too low.

Enforcing hoon laws in built up areas is understandable, however I was under the impression that most rural incidents are caused by fatigue. Surely putting the limit up on Highways such as the Hume would decrease the number of accidents, by reducing exposure to long stints behind the wheel. It's not as if the Hume has any corners on it you can't do safely at high speed.

I would think that we would have to have one of the lowest state speed limits in the world and yet we are part of one of the most sparsely populated countries.

L8r

[Philthy]

I know an 80 year old who tells me how his old 99 honda sat so much better on the road at 180k's than his BA or new Accord. I should dob him in and get my name in the paper

[Rufus®]

Hmm Im confused...since when is speeding being a hoon? Does this mean every person who speeds is a hoon?

Sick of hearing the word hoon. With all these oldies being hoons, it may mean no one will have passengers and everyone will have to drive on their own

As am i, apparently talking on your phone, drink driving and driving without a seatbelt are all classified as hooning....

Cops nab 216 hoons in less than a day | Breaking News | News.com.au

Of the 216 motorists caught, 14 drivers exceeded the alcohol limit, with the highest reading coming from a probationary driver who returned a reading of 0.206.

Another 85 were caught speeding with 16 exceeding the speed limit by more than 25km. Other offences included 29 drivers using their mobile phones and 20 people not wearing a seatbelt.

How the hell are 20 people expected to wear 1 seatbelt?

[jesse3.8]

Hoons are horrific people worse then granny bashing or animal cruelty. True scum.

[Jesterarts]

Speeding in relation to hooning:

A new threshold will see drivers speeding at 70km/h or more above the limit lose their cars for
three months. Currently, such drivers would have their car impounded for 48 hours for being at
least 45km/h above the limit.
The 48-hour penalty will remain for those speeding by between 45km/h and 70km/h.

Just through I'd clear that up.

[D-Man]

not to mention that driving a car with a defect is also hooning!!

be ware! if you do one thing wrong YOUR A HOON..

this hoon thing is soo out of control seriously.

it's similar to the word "Like" in sentences by alot of young people. LIKE SOO OVER USED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pow3rslave]

i'm kinda happy at this guy being labeled a hoon. i don't actually think he's a hoon, but the terms bandied about so randomly and stupidly these days that i want it to become moreso, until the general public realises the stupidity of it.
if people realise how stupid it is to label any driver a hoon for a driving infraction, instead of, say ripping a 30 metre single pegger, they might actually have to look at the circumstances, rather than simple young person + modified car = hoon.


double parking to become a 'hoon offense' who's with me!

[D-Man]

what about parking too long ! and not paying for it !!!!!

parking + not paying = hoon

[Reefer]

hoons smoons, who cares i know for one thing, if im doing 80 over the speed limit i aint going to stop to for no cop might give me the chance to use this nos

[minux]

Speeding in relation to hooning:

A new threshold will see drivers speeding at 70km/h or more above the limit lose their cars for
three months. Currently, such drivers would have their car impounded for 48 hours for being at
least 45km/h above the limit.
The 48-hour penalty will remain for those speeding by between 45km/h and 70km/h.

Just through I'd clear that up.

My point is, speeding is speeding, there is laws in place for that, alwyas has been, why is it all of a sudden "hooning" and not speeding?

hoons smoons, who cares i know for one thing, if im doing 80 over the speed limit i aint going to stop to for no cop might give me the chance to use this nos

Hopefully if that happens you hit a tree while your trying to get away.

[Jesterarts]

My point is, speeding is speeding, there is laws in place for that, alwyas has been, why is it all of a sudden "hooning" and not speeding?

I agree, it is stupid to class speeding now as hooning.

They do this because you can't have your car comfiscated under speeding laws from what I understand.

Though in my opinion it would have been a better idea to simple re-jig the speeding laws rather than have them now semi-under the hooning umbrella.

But when it the last time any goverment did something smart or logical? lol

[Sabbath']

The thing that really annoys me is:

You spin your wheels. you can have your car taken off you.

You blow over .05, you keep your car. I keep hearing reports of some drivers being caught multiple times in one night for drink driving. I would have thought that drink driving was as bad as giving your wheels a small spin, but obviously not.

Obviously the people in charge decree that 2 seconds of wheelspin is vastly more dangerous that somebody impared by alcohol when it comes to being on the road.

Rediculous.

[GetToDaChopa]

I can just imagine the guy who was cought... He wears his hat backwards, talks like this: fully sick mate! Got his girl (old wife) sitting next to him in the car (she is like 90 years old)

The cop would have been very surprised.

[minux]

The thing that really annoys me is:

You spin your wheels. you can have your car taken off you.

You blow over .05, you keep your car. I keep hearing reports of some drivers being caught multiple times in one night for drink driving. I would have thought that drink driving was as bad as giving your wheels a small spin, but obviously not.

Obviously the people in charge decree that 2 seconds of wheelspin is vastly more dangerous that somebody impared by alcohol when it comes to being on the road.

Rediculous.

Yep, its amazing, while I personally think burnouts are stupid, Im yet to hear of any nights where 3 burnout kings wipe out families of people...sadly I cannot say the same about drink drivers...

[holdenhero]

I never used to call myself a hoon, but hell I reverse out of my driveway without my seatbelt on so I can see better and don't hit any pedestrians... Guess thats classified as hooning too according to the news and police.

Harden up Australia.

[alien]

I never used to call myself a hoon, but hell I reverse out of my driveway without my seatbelt on so I can see better and don't hit any pedestrians... Guess thats classified as hooning too according to the news and police.

Harden up Australia.

Nope, generally these are the only rules you can break which will get your vehicle impounded under hoon laws:

Drive whilst disqualified/suspended
Speed / Manner Dangerous (with an associated improper use)
Evade Police
Careless Driving (with an associated improper use)
Improper use of motor vehicle
Conduct/engage in a race/speed trial
Deliberately/recklessly enter a level crossing
Excessive speed (45Kp/h or more over the speed limit or more than 145 Kph in a 110 Kph zone)
Undue Noise/Smoke (with an associated improper use)
Fail to have proper control (with an associated improper use)

BTW, improper use involves losing traction with one or more of the wheels. For example doing: burnouts, wheelies, fishtails, mono's, endo's, drifting e.t.c.

At time of publication this is right and described in the booklets about vehicle impoundment in Victoria.

[ClairBear]

hoon [ hoon ]
noun (plural hoons)
Definition:

1. lout: a lout or hooligan

2. speeding driver: somebody, especially a young man, who drives fast and recklessly

3. high-speed drive: an act of driving fast and recklessly

intransitive verb (3rd person present singular hoons, present participle hooning, past and past participle hooned)
Definition:

speed in motor vehicle: to drive fast and recklessly

[Mid-20th century. Origin ?]

hooning noun

[Cobez]

Hmm Im confused...since when is speeding being a hoon? Does this mean every person who speeds is a hoon?

Sick of hearing the word hoon. With all these oldies being hoons, it may mean no one will have passengers and everyone will have to drive on their own

Yep, the media throw it around rather loosely don't they? My earliest memory's of the word "hoon" was when i was about 6 years old and we used to stay at my grandpa's down at Phillip Island during the summer and we'd all be sitting outside and because his street was gravel and dirt, everytime someone would come into the corner sideways, he would yell "HOOOOON!!!" jokingly.

Now the media is partially ruining those positive memories.

[ducker85]

Hmm Im confused...since when is speeding being a hoon? Does this mean every person who speeds is a hoon?

Sick of hearing the word hoon. With all these oldies being hoons, it may mean no one will have passengers and everyone will have to drive on their own

A guy in my town (port pirie) reverse out on a dirt road and pull the auto down into drive (with no brake or pedal) and only skipped traction for a spilt second but the cop there inpounded his (farther's) car for 24hours anyway. the 'hoon' act is to broad, by there rules tail gating is a hoon act too.

[VN_chris]

"We're sick of hearing people's excuses. To drive at such a high speed is inexcusable, no matter what the circumstances," he said.

Then why when your pulled over do the police ask if their is a reason for your speed?

[Hunter SS]

Hmm Im confused...since when is speeding being a hoon? Does this mean every person who speeds is a hoon?

Sick of hearing the word hoon. With all these oldies being hoons, it may mean no one will have passengers and everyone will have to drive on their own

one of the rare occasions where i actually agree with you minux