By Denise Deason
WYNDHAM police hope a new graphic hoon mural project will shock offenders out of their dangerous behaviour.
Senior Constable Stephen Cook is running the project to promote the Wyndham Hoon Line in a bid to get irresponsible drivers off the streets.
An art competition has been launched for secondary college students across Wyndham to design a mural depicting hoon activity and its consequences on the community.
Sen Const Cook said he was expecting a winning artwork something along the lines of “hoon does burn-out in his car, loses control, hits a person … person dies.”
“Yes, I’m looking for shock value,” he said.
“I’ve got a vested interest.
“I have a daughter and wife and the last thing I want is for some idiot in a car to come tearing round the corner and take out my family.
“I want young people to think about the possible results of their actions.
“This area came second in the state, behind Bendigo, in the number of vehicles seized by police under the new anti-hoon legislation.
“Hoon driving is a massive problem in Wyndham and we need to fix it.”
Thirty six Hoppers Crossing residents had their cars impounded for driving at excessive speeds by the end of the first 12 months of operation, to June this year, of the anti-hoon legislation.
In Werribee, the total was 23.
Under the legislation, drivers can have their cars impounded for 48 hours for a first offence, three months for a second and permanently for a third.
The most commonly impounded car is the Holden Commodore, followed by the Ford Falcon.
The vast majority of hoons are men, recording 98.3 per cent of the total number of offenders.
Sen Const Cook said the Wyndham Hoon Line – 9742 9466 – launched a few months ago had been “a bit of a failure” so far.
“I don’t think many people know about it,” he said.
“And of the calls we’ve received, many gave poor quality information.
“We want callers to say: I saw this guy doing a burn-out in front of me – and this is the car’s rego number.”
Sen Const Cook, who ran an anti-hoon program in Brimbank for 10 months, implements a three-stage response to offenders.
“I send a letter stating the driver was seen driving irresponsibly and, if this was you, I basically say pull your head in,” he said.
“If it happens again, I go to the address and basically read the riot act to the offender, preferably in front of his parents.
“Quite often, by the time I leave, the parents are yelling at the young man.
“If it happens a third time, I send a letter saying the driver is now zero tolerance targeted by the police.”
Sen Const Cook recently visited students at the Al Taqwa Islamic College in Truganina, one of the schools entering the hoon mural competition.
The competition closes on 21 September and the winning entry will be displayed outside Werribee Police station.
As part of the overall project, officers from the Wyndham Traffic Management Unit, police youth resource officers and guest speakers from the Roadside Trauma Support Group will go to schools to talk to students about responsible driver behaviour and the impact hoon activity has on the community.
