VIDEO: Brazen hoons turn Townsville roads into racetracks
Police are ramping up patrols to stamp out hooning in Townsville after shocking footage of an illegal car meet emerged online. WATCH THE VIDEO.
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Police are ramping up patrols to stamp out hooning in Townsville after shocking footage of an illegal car meet emerged online.
Videos seen by the Townsville Bulletin show hoons brazenly speeding up streets and industrial areas in Townsville.
In one video on TikTok, a hoon does burnouts at a Mount St John street as sparks and smoke billow from the car.
Other footage shows a car meeting along Southern Port Rd, at which spectators line the road as drivers speed past and perform burnouts.
Senior Sergeant Robert Nalder, the officer in charge of Townsville’s highway patrol, said his team was proactively targeting hooning with patrols across the city, including hot spots like Southern Port Rd.
“We have recently put four incidents of dangerous operation of a vehicle before the courts,” he said.
“An additional one has been finalised with the defendant pleading guilty and receiving a $600 fine and being disqualified for a period of six months.
“There have also been approximately 20 infringement notices issued to drivers for hooning type offences including minor burnouts and vehicle defects.
“All current prosecutions involved offences on Webb Drive, Bohle and Sir Leslie Thiess Drive, Townsville.”
Sergeant Nalder said the Townsville Highway Patrol was also investigating a further four hooning offences, which may lead to more charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
When asked about the TikTok videos of hooning across the city, he said that police condemned dangerous driving and asked motorists to drive responsibly every time they get behind the wheel of a car.
“If not, (they should) expect their actions to result in a court appearance or worse,” he said.
“We value community assistance from members of the public who provide vision and information of incidents to help make our roads safer for all.”
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Originally published as VIDEO: Brazen hoons turn Townsville roads into racetracks
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