Carrum Downs car owner loses licence for failing to identify hoon filmed doing street burnouts
Salesman Joel Arnell’s car was filmed doing burnouts in a Carrum Downs street. But the court didn’t need to prove he was the driver to punish him – thanks to a little-known law.
South East
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Failing to tell cops who was driving his car, which was filmed doing burnouts in a Carrum Downs street, has cost a salesman plenty.
Not only did Joel Arnell get a conviction and a big fine, he lost his licence for two years.
Under legislation brought in to try and combat the hoon plague, failing to identify a driver carries stiff mandatory penalties for the registered owner of the vehicle, as Arnell found out on Friday at Frankston Magistrates’ Court.
The court heard a witness filmed a Holden Commodore doing burnouts in Carrum Downs on March 25 and again on April 18 this year, and handed the footage in to police.
Officers tracked down the car to Arnell and tried to contact him, but their messages, visits and two letters went unanswered. He was charged with failing to identify a driver.
The Carrum Downs salesman, who said he needed his car for work, represented himself in court, saying he was “scared” to contact police.
He said he had been “going through a lot of stuff” and was “acting out” because of a relationship breakdown.
“I never saw police come to my house,” Arnell said.
“I only got one letter in the mail and when I contacted the officer I was told it was too late.”
Under the failing to identify charge he is not required to admit in court if he was the hoon driver, and he did not say if it was him or not.
The charge of failing to identify carries a much heavier mandatory sentence on conviction than the losing traction offence, which include burnouts, doughnuts, fishtailing and drifting.
Arnell also has one unrelated traffic prior from six years ago, for which he received a good behaviour bond.
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Magistrate Timothy Gattuso said the failure to identify charge carried such severe sentences because it was designed to deter dodgy drivers from trying to hoodwink the police.
“The reason the law was put in place is because when there is dangerous driving there is then the onus on you (the registered owner) to tell police who was really driving,” Mr Gattuso said.
“As a consequence I have no discretion; the mandatory minimum for the first offence of this type is two years (disqualification) upon conviction.
“I accept you don’t have a relevant prior for this, otherwise it would be (mandatory) four years.”
Arnell was convicted and fined $750 and disqualified from driving for two years.