Playford Council, Campbelltown Council and residents ask police for help to combat hoons

Two councils across Adelaide’s north and northeast have called on the police to combat hoons in cars and on unregistered motor bikes in their areas.

Frustrated residents and two councils across Adelaide’s north and northeast are calling on police to crackdown on hoons in cars and on unregistered motorbikes.

Playford and Campbelltown councils have both asked for more police help to bring speeding and dangerous drivers under control in their districts.

Playford has been forced to install a number of “No Motorbike” signs on some reserve pathway entries following concerns from the community with unlicensed hoons on trail bikes in reserves in Elizabeth Park and Elizabeth Downs.

Cr Cathy-Jo Tame said the hoons were mostly teenagers with many living in the Andrews Farm area.

She said motorbikes seized by police should be crushed.

Hoons on dirt bikes have terrorised locals in Adelaide's north. Picture: #trailbikehoons Facebook page

“People have just had enough,” Cr Tame said, who has set up a Facebook page called #trailbikehoons.

“Get them to do community service, where are the repercussions for their stupidity?”

Cr Akram Arifi said the “illegal bike riders” were a nuisance to local residents, a risk to public safety and police had to do more to catch the offenders.

Elizabeth East resident David Jauncey said he had regularly seen motor bike riders in a local reserve by Adams Creek for nearly 20 years.

“Our concerns are for the safety of people using the park,” Mr Jauncey said.

“In the summer season there is a possible fire risk that the trail bikes could cause due to the large amount of dry grass in the reserve.”

Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty wrote to Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and then Police Minister Corey Wingard in June expressing concern with trail bike hooning in Andrews Farm.

The issue of hooning was also raised several times at a community safety committee meeting last month.

Council staff understand some offenders are unlicensed and are riding unregistered motorbikes, which can be purchased “very cheaply for as little as a few hundred dollars”.

Trail bike hooning is a “complex issue and there are no simple solutions”, according to a new Playford Council report.

Cr Tame has called for seized trail bikes to be crushed. Picture: #trailbikehoons Facebook page

The council has also installed traffic counters to gather data on traffic volumes, speeds and types of vehicles with data provided to SA Police.

A police spokeswoman said several people had been arrested or reported, and bikes seized, this year and residents should continue to dob in offenders.

“It is not uncommon by the time the hoon riding is reported to police and a patrol attends, the riders have left the area, so any information the public can provide to police to identify and track down dangerous riders is helpful,” the spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, Campbelltown Council will ask the Police Commissioner for an increased police presence in the area to crackdown on speeding and dangerous drivers.

It has already committed to a four-month trial of mobile CCTV cameras to catch hoons in the act, particularly in Church Road, Paradise.

A hoon driver left skid marks at Athelstone recently. Picture: Cr Anna Leombruno

Cr John Flynn said “more enforcement” was needed, whether it be a “random blitz on our streets” or an increased presence in certain areas of the city.

“I realise the police are busy, particularly in these COVID-19 times but all I am asking is a respectful request for the police to put us in the mix when they formulate their future traffic plans,” Cr Flynn said.

“I can’t remember seeing a marked police car patrolling around our area (in a long time).

“It will send a message that we are serious about reducing the incidents and stop the freedom people think they have in behaving dangerously on our roads.”

He said dangerous driving had also been reported around schools and parents have asked for solutions.

A SA Police spokesman said a response would be provided to the council.