Sydney hoons: Major crackdown nabs drivers as new figures reveal 4455 hoon complaints made in one year

New figures have laid bare the startling number of complaints by Sydney residents about noisy hoons tearing through local streets as a major police operation resulted in dozens of drivers fined at the weekend.

New figures have laid bare the startling number of complaints by Sydneysiders about noisy cars tearing through local streets as authorities turn to new technology in a move to clamp down on hoon behaviour.

Statistics released by NSW Parliament have shown 4455 complaints were made about noisy vehicles in the 12 month period to April this year – equating to an average of more than 12 per day and bringing the total number of complaints over the last five years to a staggering 34,195.

The figures come as a NSW Police crackdown on anti-social and dangerous driving resulted in more than 100 fines being issued in the Botany Bay foreshore area at the weekend.

During the operation officers grounded and towed 16 vehicles for major defects, issued 27 minor defect notices and handed out 101 infringement notices.

The NSW Government is also trialling new noise cameras in a move to deter drivers from using noisy and modified cars in residential areas.

A NSW Police photo of a compliance blitz on roads that resulted in 100 fines issued to drivers for car defects and anti-social behaviour at the weekend.

A trial – taking place in the Bayside and Wollongong local government areas – was announced in response to growing community concerns about the impact of noisy vehicles.

State Rockdale MP Steve Kamper – whose electorate takes in Bayside – said the noise cameras were in addition to three new fixed speed cameras along The Grand Parade to address reckless behaviour.

“The local community has been calling for action against disruptive noisy vehicles for years (and) the noise camera trial is the next step in addressing the anti-social behaviour,” he said.

A photo captured by a Blues Point resident of alleged hoon activity in the McMahons Point area.

Elsewhere in Sydney, community concerns about noisy vehicles and hoons were aired at a community meeting in McMahons Point attended by NSW Police crime prevention officers.

Police told the meeting they are working with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) on compliance activity and urged residents to report instances of hoon behaviour – adding that the “more people who complain, the better the chances of a positive response”.

In the last five years, the EPA has issued 74 fines to drivers for a vehicle on a road or road-related area that exceeds the prescribed noise limit.

A photo of a noise camera.

Despite the crackdown, statistics show there have been no fines to drivers selling a vehicle that has noise control equipment that is inappropriately modified, defective or missing.

In a statement, the EPA said it participated in joint compliance operations in areas where noisy vehicles “significantly impact the community”.

“During these operations, the EPA may issue on the spot fines or issue directions for an inspection at an EPA approved station to drivers of noisy vehicles that exceed prescribed noise standards or who modify exhausts and other pollution control equipment,” the EPA said in a statement.

NSW Police carried out a compliance blitz in the Botany Bay area at the weekend.

Hoon behaviour is meanwhile shaping up to become a hot button issue in the upcoming local government elections with a new political body called ‘Peaceful Bayside’ registering candidates to run in the Bayside Council area.

The action group was founded after a mother-of-two was almost hit by a motorcycle in Rockdale in separate incidents during the same week in 2020.

The noise camera technology currently being trialled in NSW is similar technology used in major overseas cities including London, Paris and New York.

Once the trial has concluded, the NSW Government stated it “will evaluate whether to expand the use of vehicle noise cameras to areas where noisy vehicles impact the community”.