Police will have new high-tech cameras, including an expanded fleet of drones to crackdown on hoons.
The new technology will add to the existing network of thousands of traffic cameras across the state.
The assault on hooning will make it much easier for police to catch hoons and to take strong action against them.
Police will have high-tech night vision capable cameras that can be deployed covertly, operated by an officer, or deployed on a drone.
Complementing the new camera technology the Government is looking to expand existing laws, including shifting the onus of proof onto the vehicle owner.
This means if the owner claims they weren’t driving the vehicle at the time of the offence, it will be up to them to prove it.
Putting the onus on the owner, would allow police to take greater advantage of the hooning footage captured by CCTV cameras.
These changes will provide police with enhanced flexibility when dealing with gatherings of hoons.
For example, if dozens of cars were hooning in a particular location, police would be able to use these new hi-tech cameras to capture images of all the vehicles.
The high-resolution images would allow police to identify each vehicle, and then proceed to take action against the registered owner, unless the owner could demonstrate they weren’t driving at the time.
The expanded laws would cover a wider range of traffic offences caught on camera.
An offender would no longer be able to avoid prosecution by simply masking their identities and denying they had been behind the wheel.
These changes are supported by the Queensland Police Service and the Queensland Police Union.
Drivers identified hooning in stolen vehicles would face theft and hooning charges.
These tough new tactics will complement the already harshest hoon penalties in the nation and will add to the arsenal of enforcement measures already being used by police to target hooning on Queensland’s roads:
Intelligence-driven enforcement with covert patrols
Monitoring of all forms of social media to take swift action
Hoon Hotline 13HOON
High-visibility patrols
Dedicated Road Policing officers
POLAIR aerial surveillance
Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology
Road safety camera trailers
Thousands of traffic cameras across the state
Police drone fleet
Penalties vary for different hooning offences. For example, driving in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke carries a maximum fine of 20 penalty units ($2669) while the most serious offences, such as careless driving—also known as driving without due care and attention—or street racing, carry a maximum fine of 40 penalty units ($5338) or 6 months in jail.
In addition, for specific offences classed as hooning—anti-social behaviour in a motor vehicle—police now have the power to impound, immobilise and confiscate the vehicle you were driving when you committed the offence.
