Anyone caught doing burnouts or engaging in hoon behaviour should have their car impounded and sold for charity or crushed, a Hume councillor believes.
Speaking in the wake of a Western Ring Road crash that killed two people after an illegal street racing meet in Campbellfield early last Wednesday, Cr Jack Medcraft called on the state government to tighten hoon laws.
‘‘There’s places in Hume that are getting raided by hoons every Friday and Saturday night,’’ he said.
‘‘As a council we can’t do much about it. The government has to step in.’’
Cr Medcraft said there should be no mercy, even for first-time offenders.
‘‘They should have their car impounded and then either auctioned or crushed,’’ he said.
‘‘If you auction them off the money should go to charity, and that person should be restricted from buying a vehicle for another 12 months.’’
Cr Medcraft said the hoon problem in Hume had worsened. Hoon hotspots in Sunbury include roads around newer housing estates, while industrial areas in Tullamarine and Campbellfield are regularly taken over by illegal meets promoted through social media.
A Tullamarine business owner recently emailed live commentary to the council and police while holed up inside his office. I.H. Hunter director Lachlan Hunter said up to 100 cars were meeting in Lillee Crescent on an almost nightly basis.
Cr Medcraft said that aside from the obvious risks to safety, hoon driving created a costly mess.
‘‘People need to understand their rates are also being chewed up by these idiots because we have to go out and repair the roads,” he said. “The heat that’s generated by car tyres going around melts the tar.
‘‘At the end of the day, if you like your cars and doing this sort of stuff, go to Calder Park.’’
A police taskforce was set up in November to target street racing groups operating in northern and south-eastern suburbs.
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the increasingly organised nature of the groups meant police had to take a different approach instead of simply dispersing participants.
A government spokesman did not respond by deadline.
with Esther Lauaki
