Sa Hoons Caught

[Mitch-BA]

Hello this story was on the front page of the sunday mail in adelaide today.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/s...6-2682,00.html



GANGS of hoons in their hundreds are seizing control of major Adelaide streets in the dead of night to run high-speed drag races and burnout competitions.

A Sunday Mail investigation has revealed a highly organised world of dangerous drivers who use vehicle road blocks and lookouts with CB radios to avoid interference from police.

Frustrated officers have admitted they are fighting a war against hoons, who regularly congregate in their hundreds to drag race and do burnouts in suburban areas.

Convoys of hoons - including two witnessed by the Sunday Mail - are moving from area to area - often over many hours and from south of the city to the north. Ordinary motorists who make it past sentries are often forced to swerve out the way of skidding cars and walls of smoke from lines of cars doing burnouts.

Police say it is only a matter of time until more lives are lost and they are now being trained to spot hi-tech illegal modifications as hoons become more cunning.

Supt Anthony Fioravanti, the officer in charge of Port Adelaide local service area, said illegal street racing and hoon behaviour was becoming more highly organised.

"It's well known that they use lookouts and text regularly to let each other know where police are," he said. "In the old days, you might have someone doing a burnout to show off in front of someone, but now people are actually leaving home with burnout tyres on the back of their car.

"There's no doubt what their intent is and that's to raise havoc and do big burnouts."

One of two car club cruises attended by the Sunday Mail ended with a major highway being taken over by up to 100 cars taking turns shredding tyres with burnouts and circle work.

The other led to a series of crashes as cars peeled out of suburban shopping centre car parks.

Police are now investigating a series of incidents that occurred at last weekend's All Car Club cruise, including a ute deliberately smashed into a tree while a man held on in the tray.

It is believed the same ute was later used to do circle work in the centre of the road while several men hung on to the back. In recent months, police have discovered:

A DRIVER doing burnouts while a drunken mate clung on the car's roof.

ANOTHER driver who had installed two windscreen wiper tanks that released an oil and water mix over the back wheels of his ute. The system was operated by a button under the dash.

MECHANICAL workshops which will - for a fee - replace illegally modified components with standard ones so hoons can get a defect notice lifted.The mechanic will later reinstall the illegal parts.

HOONS compiling online databases of car parts that can be borrowed to get defect notices overturned.

A CAR with rear brakes disabled to allow it to spin better during burn-outs when the front brakes are locked.

A spate of horror car crashes in March and April forced police and the State Government to consider toughening laws - including crushing the cars of repeat offenders.

Minh Bui, 23, died when his WRX hit a Stobie pole on Magill Rd during a race that allegedly reached speeds of more than 150km/h.

The driver of the second car, Ricardo Rocha, 22, lost his leg in the March 28 accident.

Two weeks later, Tom Brooks, 22, was killed when a drag racer smashed into his car on Torrens Rd at Woodville North.

As the hoon culture takes hold, drivers are using the internet to post pictures and video clips of their escapades. Big Burnout Hoons creator Peter Barnes told the Sunday Mail it was "just a bit of male testosterone - my car is better than your car type of thing".

"Its fun. Its just showing what your car is made of," he said.

The group's Facebook site is filled with photographs, videos and crude remarks.

"Hmm, I got done for doing donuts ... and tried to tell the cops it werent me," one member wrote.

"$800 fine, then yesterday got done for going sideways out of the Northgate car park and the coppas reckon they did 110 trying to catch me ... so this is my kind of group."

Another member was even more boastful: "Media Mike Rann can suck my b... I hoon up (and) down out the front of his house." Constable Neil Hastie, of Port Adelaide, has become the target of online abuse because of his knowledge of high-powered cars.

Local hoons know he will spot their hidden modifications.

But Const Hastie has also put in countless hours working with car clubs to encourage safe driving.

Port Adelaide police were recently handed the 2009 Road Safety Award for their efforts with hoon drivers.

"I just don't want to do another doorknock," Const Hastie said.

"It's the worst thing you can do.

"And I've been on both sides of it."

He said mass meetings of hoon drivers happened regularly across suburban Adelaide and were usually organised by text message or email.

"Now they are even using CB radios to co-ordinate," he said. "Sometimes they will be doing burnouts at one end of a car park and they'll have people at the other end moving their vehicles to actively get in the way so police can't get over there.

"I was forecasting these (fatal) crashes 18 months to two years ago.

"It is increasing ... because it's happening in built up areas and areas where people are around."

Port Adelaide Senior Sergeant Jane Kluzek said hoon drivers had not been deterred by the recent spate of horror car crashes - not even those who knew the people killed.

"It's a case of it won't happen to me," she said. "They get a certain amount of notoriety from that and that increases their risk taking behaviour."

Const Hastie said there were two types of car clubs - those run by hoons and others for car enthusiasts.

"You've got clubs like the Street Machine Association of South Australia. They run family events," he said.

"They have a lot of cars, a lot of money and in terms of offences they are not a problem. But other clubs - the irresponsible clubs - will have upwards of 200 cars and they just go out to have a good time and cause trouble in a lot of different ways.

"And that includes burnouts, drag racing and antics that you wouldn't believe if you saw it.

"In March, I got one guy who had his friend on the roof hanging on while he was doing a burnout. The mate, if he'd been driving, would have been done for drink driving with the amount of alcohol in him. For them it's just a bit of fun but it's going to kill someone one day."

Police have been working with responsible car clubs and have even attended their events to discuss what modifications are allowed.

He said these clubs would discipline or exclude members driving recklessly at organised events.

Adelaide woman Katrina Barnes is involved with several car clubs that work with police to keep their events safe. She said she and her friends are often the target of abuse because of the vehicles they drive. "We are car enthusiasts, not hoons," the 23-year-old said.

[Foylema]

This is the second page to the story

IT'S Port Wakefield Rd at 2am on a Sunday and suddenly the air is split by the sound of screaming tyres and the yells of a baying crowd as they surge forward.

I'm in the middle of it all, caught up in the sheer stupidity of mob rule. Around me are hundreds of hoons and I'm watching them block the road, break the law and laugh as they put lives at risk.

Suddenly another noise cuts through the tearing of tyres on bitumen. It's the blaring of a horn as a motorist slips past their lookout and hits a wall of smoke.

I can imagine what he would have seen as he approached the Lower Light turnoff: both northbound lanes cloaked in a cloud of white, headlights spinning and sliding and the glimpse of a car hurtling through the haze in his direction.

He would have hit the brakes and crawled through the crowd in confusion, perhaps uttering an oath or a prayer. He would have seen the long row of cars backed off the road, the hundreds of jeering, hoodie-wearing guys and girls as he drove through.

And he would have seen the tyre marks and the sheen of oil that had been poured across the bitumen to make the road slippery. All on a 100km/h stretch of highway.

It's just another Saturday night in Adelaide - and another car cruise, a highly organised convoy of more than 200 hotted-up vehicles complete with stock rear tyres ready to be worn down to the rim.

That motorist could have been one of the two people who called police to report the group of hoons doing burnouts just 50km from the city. Later, I hear that patrols were too busy elsewhere to attend.

This was our second car club cruise in two months - we had followed the convoy through the night to the hoons' "secret" burnout spots. For the past hour photographer Dylan Coker and I had been anonymous faces in a crowd of hundreds, blanketed by choking smoke and the screeching sound of rubber on bitumen at the end of a long night with the All Car Club.

I was expecting somewhere out of the way for their burnout spot. But a heavily-used highway seemed a bizarre - and recklessly dangerous - choice. The hoons had literally taken over a stretch of a main road.

Our first cruise, with the Ragerz Commodore Klub a few weeks earlier, had not been so eventful. More than 200 cars had moved from location to location, eventually spending hours trying to shake the police escort. We left them about 5am in the industrial backstreets of the northern suburbs, still being followed by several marked and unmarked police cars. But on a wet night, even a strong police presence couldn't prevent a series of accidents between high-powered cars as they screamed in and out of car parks.

We listened as one of the cruise leaders laughed off the loss of his car.

"Someone ran right up the back of me and I ended up smacking my head - no seatbelt," he laughed. Police were met with a standard response when they explained to a driver his car was defectable; if he made some minor adjustments it could be reclassed as roadworthy.

"No **** chance," the officer was told. "Next time you won't catch me."

One car had been seized by the end of the night and 16 drivers fined for offences such as failing to maintain control and undue noise.

Fourteen cars were defected.

Last weekend, without the police resources to throw at the event, the boys had the run of the road.

We hadn't been invited - they didn't even know we were there - but it was the only way to get a clear look at what happens when hoons take over the streets.

About the same time that young couples were arriving at Westfield Marion for a Saturday night at the movies, the boys with their toys began pulling into the nearby car park. The rumble of hotted-up cars drew many a glance as their owners mingled under street lamps. Soon more than 100 cars were in the lot, joined by a solitary marked police car which cruised around before coming to a stop at one end.

The unmarked car that arrived soon after fooled nobody - nor was it intended to - and the minglers stopped to stare as it drove past.

At 8.30pm, after an hour, a piercing whistle signalled the announcement of the next stop on the cruise - Moana Esplanade. The cruise route is kept close to the chest of the organisers to avoid police attention. The crowd at Moana was relatively well behaved, and aside from the roar of modified exhausts, the residents of the seaside neighbourhood might never have known they were there.

But I'm told they drew the attention of police at the next stop, where we watched in astonishment as the driver of a ute deliberately crashed his car into a tree in the Firle Plaza car park, directly in front of an unmanned police shopfront. Even worse, his mate gleefully held on as he stood up in the back tray while the driver rammed the tree.

The engine revved and revved as he worked to push over the trunk, eventually landing his ute on top of the tree when it snapped. It took about 20 blokes to dislodge the vehicle. We would later see what appeared to be the same ute doing circle work on the median strip of Port Wakefield Rd, with at least three young men hanging on as they got thrown around in the back tray.

We followed the cruise to Semaphore and then Gepps Cross, as the car fans continued to mingle and talk shop. By now, up to 250 cars were cruising the streets in convoy.

But it was our final stop - more than six hours after we started at Marion - that really showed what this night was all about. We knew we were heading to a burnout spot and we'd been told they were usually in out-of-the-way industrial areas.

But then dozens of cars started backing on to the shoulder of the major highway. The crowd gathered, as one by one, the cars lined up to take their turn at shredding their tyres. We watched the hoons pour oil over the back wheels and gather round to clap and cheer as the cars spun out of control, right beside them.

I watched as a man was almost thrown from the back of a ute as it carved up grass and mud in the centre of the highway.

It was obvious they had lookouts in each direction armed with CB radios.

Every now and then someone would shout and the crowd would run from the road. Moments later, the headlights of a car or B-double would appear and barrel towards us.

But sometimes a vehicle would get through their system undetected, the startled driver being forced to hit the brakes as an out-of-control car came sliding across the road towards them.

Then, as suddenly as they arrived, the crowd split about 3am, many off to the next spot. We decided not to follow. There is only so much stupidity you can take in one night.

[xbrules]

I read this in the Sunday Fail today and boy did it make me see red, its getting harder by the day to own a Custom car, before we know it we won't be allowed to have even the most minor of modifications to our cars, they way it's going i'll get pulled up for the 2 1/2'' twin system on the XC cos its too loud like a hoon car! the pictures of the brainless idiots doing this are all of commodores and skylines!!!! the only good that will come from it is a mass culling of VN VP VR VS VT commodores and skylines. I remember when The fast and the Furious first came out, I thought Skylines were cool because they were hardly ever seen but in the last few years they have become as common as the commodore. and they're cheap, why not make more expensive taxes or ban the import of anymore, whats gonna happen in a few years when the New GT-R becomes as common, there will be morons wrapping themselves around stoby poles left, right and center. so to summarise my rant caused by the Sadvertiser, Barnsey if you read this, hope you get done for promoting this crap and joining in with the gutter trash and their antics! oh and thanks for helping to ruin Enthusiast ownership here in Sadelaide!!!
Cheers
Dave

[fairmont1998]

Had enough of the Advertiser/Sunday Mail car enthusiast bashing? Join our Facebook group and voice your opinion.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=99959001623

[hy_boi]

IMO, While they were paying out a few clubs...But from what was witnessed I can understand, but they still mentioned there are a few good car clubs out there.

And comments like this "No **** chance," the officer was told. "Next time you won't catch me."

What do you really expect?

I'm all up for going for a drive and what not. They're always good fun. But I'm yet to end the night by blocking off a highway and chucking burnouts,

Is there anymore to this story?? Be keen to here opinions from the otherside,

[5L]

and what are your thoughts on it mitch?

[Barry_v]

good to see they named SMASA as a well behaved club. its amazing smasa members manage to stay out of trouble considering how much hp their cars have! everyone knows rck are clowns, their 'club' is a joke.

[EDManual]

I know everyone reading this wont admit it, but lots of you have had roads cb or mobile checked by mates up the road for your high speed runs....

How else can so many of the public do their 200 plus km/h runs in all these gt's and xr6 turbos and put them on youtube etc without being seriously worried about being caught?

[Foylema]

Originally Posted by AUXR8220

and what are your thoughts on it mitch?

Thats was my bad mitch was over my house and he must of signed into his account and i forgot to sign him out lol

[PepeLePew]

Nothing unfair about the article far as I can see, it is alway and unfortunate fact its the minority that bugger it for others.

It'd be interesting to know what effect a return of a functional AIR might have on this sort of behaviour....

[Sorted]

"It's well known that they use lookouts and text regularly to let each other know where police are," he said. "In the old days, you might have someone doing a burnout to show off in front of someone, but now people are actually leaving home with burnout tyres on the back of their car.

LOL really, I never see cars driving around the streets with stockies on the rear.............never, really lol

Pffft Lookouts - yep one person has all the mobile numbers of the 1,000s of ppl that turn up and that sole person texts everyone - yep thats believable

[redauxr8]

I think the reporter/journo sat down and watched the beginning to The fast and the Furious and wrote up this report, cos that seriously wat it sounds like...

On the other hand, if these types of things do happen, i think its unfair that people who do a little skid/burnout are classed in the same catageory as these fools... Hoon laws should be based on different catagories... I mean spinning ur wheels for 2 seconds on a quiet backstreet or industrial area is nothing compared to doing doeys and drag racing in public areas.....

My 2c

[DBourne]

i think it's a good article. If that is what actually goes on, then it's almost fasinating to hear about it.

Wish it didn't happen, but that's life I guess.

[EBII Ghia]

Originally Posted by redauxr8

I think the reporter/journo sat down and watched the beginning to The fast and the Furious and wrote up this report, cos that seriously wat it sounds like...

On the other hand, if these types of things do happen, i think its unfair that people who do a little skid/burnout are classed in the same catageory as these fools... Hoon laws should be based on different catagories... I mean spinning ur wheels for 2 seconds on a quiet backstreet or industrial area is nothing compared to doing doeys and drag racing in public areas.....

My 2c

^^^^Oh dear!
Just like giving the mrs one little slap isnt the same as beatin the living suitcase out of her? Or stealing $50 from a bank isnt the same as stealing $50000? :

[Walkinshaw]

Originally Posted by EBII Ghia

^^^^Oh dear!
Just like giving the mrs one little slap isnt the same as beatin the living suitcase out of her? Or stealing $50 from a bank isnt the same as stealing $50000? :

or breaking the speed limit by 5km/h vs 100km/h ??

Not quite black and white is it? :

[merlin]

Road's closed pizza boy, find another way home!

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by EBII Ghia

^^^^Oh dear!
Just like giving the mrs one little slap isnt the same as beatin the living suitcase out of her? Or stealing $50 from a bank isnt the same as stealing $50000? :

Assault is assault, stealing is stealing.... but i get your point.

[redauxr8]

Originally Posted by EBII Ghia

^^^^Oh dear!
Just like giving the mrs one little slap isnt the same as beatin the living suitcase out of her? Or stealing $50 from a bank isnt the same as stealing $50000? :

What I'm really trying to say is, there should be a different punishment for the severity of your offense... Just like 1st degree murder, 2nd degree, manslaughter etc

If you can get away with shooting someone and getting away with the "accidental didnt mean to do it" plea, I reckon car drivers should be the same... Whereas a skid in the middle of the Nulaboor will u cop u the same as someone doin 200km/h in a 50 zone....

[platinumXR]

What I don't get is; these tools go to so much effort and ferk1ng around...why not just go to a proper drag strip? No threat of being chased by Pold I suppose...bit selfish and narcissistic I think...

[seXCmont]

they cant afford to go to a drag strip or get their cars past scrutineering. if you do a 2 second skid and get pulled over you could get away with just a fine for unable to control your vehicle if your smart about it.

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by merlin

Road's closed pizza boy, find another way home!

Someone had to say it :

Its hard to fatham how this rubbish goes on. If it were here in QLD they would run into a heap of road works or the like :

[snappy]

Is there somwhere in south australia , to do this legally

[FreddyDUZ747]

Whyalla has 1/8 mile occasionally.wow.

[platinumXR]

Originally Posted by seXCmont

they cant afford to go to a drag strip or get their cars past scrutineering. if you do a 2 second skid and get pulled over you could get away with just a fine for unable to control your vehicle if your smart about it.

Of course they can afford it...'they' just don't want to pay.

[loosey]

Originally Posted by xbrules

the pictures of the brainless idiots doing this are all of commodores and skylines!!!! the only good that will come from it is a mass culling of VN VP VR VS VT commodores and skylines.

Pretty sure there was only one skyline out of all those pictures and it was parked. I can see more fords in those pics than imports but you wont mention that will you?

I remember when The fast and the Furious first came out, I thought Skylines were cool because they were hardly ever seen but in the last few years they have become as common as the commodore. and they're cheap

I can't see how them becoming more popular is a bad thing? Means that parts are more abundant.

Originally Posted by Mitch-BA

Police have been working with responsible car clubs and have even attended their events to discuss what modifications are allowed.

Skylines Australia has been dealing closely with officer Neil for months.

[snappy]

Originally Posted by gilmore

Whyalla has 1/8 mile occasionally.wow.

Well if thats all S.A have is one 1/8 mile track on occasion. They have only themselves to blame ,
Racing cars is a motorSPORT like all sports it need a place to do this activity if there is no venue available it will end up on the street.
Just ask the two kids in the middle of the road kicking the football on my street.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by snappy84

Well if thats all S.A have is one 1/8 mile track on occasion. They have only themselves to blame ,
Racing cars is a motorSPORT like all sports it need a place to do this activity if there is no venue available it will end up on the street.
Just ask the two kids up the road kicking the football.

i thought it was pretty well documented and common knowledge that S.A. has no drag facility.

also what annoys me most about the articles is the assumption that all/most modified cars that you see around must be involved in illegal activities. the fact that these clowns are out there in large numbers makes it ever harder for the real enthusiast to be able to drive their cars without attracting unwanted attention for no reason.

mr rann (or whoever) - build a motorsport park/facility, make it affordable to everybody, and throw the book at anyone doing illegal activity outside of this facility. pretty simple.

[territory mate]

not fair to comment on all of the subject(as i dont have the info,so will only sound bias),but as for what sorted said before,yes it is quite easy to text 100's of people to move or lookout for cops with one text.can be sent and received by 100's inside 15 sec's.i have lots of people in groups on my mobile,and if i get a good text(joke ,vid,etc),it takes about 5 clicks and its off to about 20 to 50 people.lots of them have unlimited text contracts,so it really is a breeze.
they sit at a friends house,and watch fast and furious,and believe it's all true.
doesn't everyone have a 13 speed box?lol

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by territory mate

not fair to comment on all of the subject(as i dont have the info,so will only sound bias),but as for what sorted said before,yes it is quite easy to text 100's of people to move or lookout for cops with one text.can be sent and received by 100's inside 15 sec's.i have lots of people in groups on my mobile,and if i get a good text(joke ,vid,etc),it takes about 5 clicks and its off to about 20 to 50 people.lots of them have unlimited text contracts,so it really is a breeze.
they sit at a friends house,and watch fast and furious,and believe it's all true.
doesn't everyone have a 13 speed box?lol

Thought i was the only one that noticed :

[4Vman]

Originally Posted by snappy84

Well if thats all S.A have is one 1/8 mile track on occasion. They have only themselves to blame ,
Racing cars is a motorSPORT like all sports it need a place to do this activity if there is no venue available it will end up on the street.
Just ask the two kids in the middle of the road kicking the football on my street.

that's a BS excuse.... so if there's no shooting range its ok to shoot in the local park???