Residents near Bonogin triple fatal blast speeding hoons for tailgating, climbing verges, on wrong side

A Gold Coast’s suburb’s residents – still raw from a triple fatality – say speeding hoons are putting people at risk with dangerous antics. Read their wild claims of shocking driving.

Bonogin residents say they’re being terrorised by speeding hoons tailgating and on the wrong side of the road putting lives at risk days after the horrific fatal crash which left three dead.

The driving has left residents fearing someone else will die and of repercussions from the reckless drivers.

Some residents are also buying dashcams to try and capture the danger.

Residents in the area have been making multiple complaints to police about a red ute and trail bikes which have been spotted driving dangerously in the area.

Retired doctor Chris Fawcett, his partner Susan Zimmer, and Susan’s daughter Steffanie Zimmer were killed when a car collided with theirs on Bonogin Rd about 5pm on Friday, December 30.

Brisbane Broncos star Payne Haas’ mother Uiatu “Joan” Taufua, 46, has been charged with three counts of manslaughter and one each of dangerous operation of a vehicle, evading police, and unlicensed driving over the horror collision.

Tributes and flowers at the scene of a Bonogin triple fatal. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

This week Bonogin residents revealed a red ute and multiple trail bikes had been seen causing havoc in the area including tailgating, speeding, driving on the wrong side of the road and driving on verges.

One man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity fearing of repercussions, said he regularly saw the red ute and trail bikes driving recklessly on Bonogin Rd.

“They are going to kill someone if they keep doing what they are doing,” he said.

“There are a few people I know who have gone out and brought dashcams today and I’m one of them.”

He said the red ute and trail bikes were not the only reckless drivers in the area.

The man said he had also recently signed a petition to try and get a speed camera on Bonogin Rd in an effort to slow people down.

The resident said he had noticed an increase in intensity of the speeding in the “last couple of days”.

Another resident said she was on Observatory Dr, Reedy Creek when the red ute and a red trail bike come up behind her about 11.30am on Wednesday.

Claudine Snow (right) hugs a resident at the scene where her sister, mother and step-father were killed. Picture: Richard Gosling

She then saw the ute go the wrong way on a roundabout before the bike chased the ute.

Both appeared to be speeding, she claimed.

The woman said the bike stopped on a resident’s front lawn and revved, churning up the turf.

She said the ute and bike then sped off and appeared to play cat and mouse, including at times crossing the double lines.

The woman estimated the pair to be travelling at 120km/hr in a 60 zone.

At times they were less than a kilometre from the fatal crash site.

Chris Fawcett, 79, who died in a car crash at Bonogin.

The woman’s sighting of the red ute and bikes were not the only time residents had reporting seeing the vehicles hooning in the area since the crash.

Other residents took to the Bonogin community Facebook groups saying they had seen the vehicles tailgating others, speeding and driving dangerously.

The woman said the driving was become “daily life” for the vehicles to tailgate, overtake and drive recklessly.

“It’s now coming to fruition that many other people in the Valley have borne witness to similar driving and all of the information is now coming out of the woodwork,” she said.

“This is no isolated … it’s happening regularly now, ever more so since the recently tragedy.”

She said that even before the fatal crash people were driving dangerously.

“It’s not uncommon for residents to vent on social media warning other members of the community,” she said.

“Reports get made to police, Crimestoppers and they do their best to task crews to patrol but unfortunately it’s a lot more miss than hit most times due to staffing issues and emergencies.”

Queensland Police confirmed they had received a complaint about the vehicle.

A spokesman said investigations were ongoing.

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