Hoon Letter

[sketra]

This is what my mate Trent sent me through MSN last night, an intersting read.

Hi, my name is saf, and I am a hoon.

Well, maybe not, I take offence to that word if its used to describe me, kind of like how many other races of people get offended by a slang word describing them, I do too. I hold two international circuit licences under the FIA and a MA road racing licence, along with drivers licences for cars and bikes in two different countries. Im not a 'hoon', matter of fact im more road/race educated than 99% of our politicians.

I am a person that deoesnt always obey road rules tho, and while I know about time and place and have a strong sensible judgement (lost 1 point since I acquired my lic in 92) if you catch me doing something wrong, ill take it, but its going to get ugly if you want my keys.

So what changed ?

Well not much, there were laws to always combat this, speeding, dangerous and reckless driving. BUT the govt came to a cul-de-sac, and had no-where left to turn, at what time Fast And The Furious came out and glorified street racing, and lawmakers got it into their heads, that its a secret underground society much worse than the Ku Klux Clan, so it needs to be stamped out, and with that so will speeding, road deaths and nuclear waste. Well .. something like that.

Newsflash the govt, you will never have a 0% road toll. Its impossible. Soon as you hand keys to a human from a car, truck, helicopter or plane, you WILL have driver error, and fatalities. The difference is they can be limited, and HOONS ARE NOT THE REASON, as true FACTUAL statistics will show, other factors such as DUI has more deaths per year, telephone poles cause death, as do people driving through red lights. That does not mean we need to ban telephone poles, and green lights at intersections on cars going the other way.

Who were these short sighted people ?

The ever so gracious Ms Michelle Roberts, with a tag team effort of Grant Dorrington were great contributors with ill-informed banter to the lower and upper house. While there have always been pollies who dislike our kind, these two have been at the leading edge when it comes to running in the dark and bumping into stuff in the WA legislative system.

Neither of these two have ANY clue on what they are talking about, none at all, and sadly it seems that the new generation of politician doesn't either. Few years ago if I said the world was flat, id be correct. If I say the world is flat now ... id get laughed at, and its only by knowledge that we know its round. These people don't care, they will CONVINCE you its flat by the stats they want you to see. They feed the media, the media feeds the public, so they are obliged to act, and the vicious cycle of mis-represented rubbish continues.

Ok so what can we do ?.

[trdsaads]

It was a pretty good read.

Its similar to the "Guns dont kill people. People kill people" argument. Ive always said that the "Hoon Law" is a joke. You get you car confiscated, but your still able to drive hours after even though youve been caught.

Education is the only way we can possibly try to curb the amount of road deaths, whether they are a result of "Hooning" or driver error. Drivers licences are so easy to get! Hrmmm, lets see, paralel park, stop at the stop sign, idicate, congratulations, heres your licence! Nothing on how to control a car in case of an emergency. Maybe if we were taught how to brake safely in the wet , or control a car if it spins, then maybe we'd be all safer and more sensible drivers?

And lets not start on the whole car crushing idea!

[chicaboo]

I believe there is a system in which the politicians persuade what is shown on Today Tonight and A Current Affair to push an agenda that they seemingly just happen to follow up with immediately after with legislation. Funny that hey? It's probably a lot of window dressing to pander to ill-informed public voters that take what they see on these broadcasts at face value and nothing more. And go along with it believing it is all in their best interests.

Gav.

[RoM2nV]

Honestly in my opinion the best law so far to help minimize driver error/ 'hooning' has been the P-plate power restrictions. It allows underexpirienced drivers to learn the limits of a car that is not overpowered, instead of buying a V8 holden and wrapping it around a pole.

I am totally against night time driving restrictions for P-platers (this is very annoying when I want to go clubbing but can't get a lift), as yes, a lot of street racing does take place between 12-5am, but obviously because there are a lot less pedestrians and other traffic. Does the government think they can actually stop people who are addicted to street racing? No, they are just going to race before 12am, or after 5am, when there are more innocent pedestrians, more traffic, and obviously, more police.

Impounding cars is a waste of time, effort and money in my opinion, especially if the 'hoon' has a cheap car (ie not a japanese import or a souped up falcadore), and it gets impounded/crushed etc, they can just spend another 500 bucks, or even borrow mum's/dad's car and they are back on the roads doing their burnouts.

I also agree that Australia in general needs more driver education, such as an advanced driving course. Yes this does cost money, but whoever wants their license will end up finding the money somehow anyway. At least this can actually put drivers in dangerous situations, and teach them how to respond in a correct and timely manner. There is little to none of this in WA (I guess there can be a few dangerous situations during the supervised driving, but what if the supervised driver doesn't know how to respond to a car that is about to spin out on a wet day?)

My $0.02

[sketra]

Very good responces there. I have been on my L's for nearly 3 years, yeah yeah, its a long time but ive got more experiances then most P platers nower days.... A person i know wrecked his car cause he has no road sence.... ive been tempted just to smash in his car so that he cant drive it.... or some something it gets me reallly boody angry when people hoon. GRRR.... but yeah i may have days when im on the road and i want to be silly but i will restrict myself cause i know better....

But i think that the Department of Planning and Inferstructure should bring out a defence driving course for the brand new P platers... Once they get there P's they are not alloud to drive until they get the stamp of ok that they can handle a car in any incident....

Theres my two bob bit.

[Ascendant Rice]

Very good responces there. I have been on my L's for nearly 3 years, yeah yeah, its a long time but ive got more experiances then most P platers nower days.... A person i know wrecked his car cause he has no road sence.... ive been tempted just to smash in his car so that he cant drive it.... or some something it gets me reallly boody angry when people hoon. GRRR.... but yeah i may have days when im on the road and i want to be silly but i will restrict myself cause i know better....

But i think that the Department of Planning and Inferstructure should bring out a defence driving course for the brand new P platers... Once they get there P's they are not alloud to drive until they get the stamp of ok that they can handle a car in any incident....

Theres my two bob bit.

I got my L's on my 16th birthday after 12 months and 350+hours i did the driving test and go tmy P's in 15 mins on my 17th birthday one year on ive got my green P's and the only accidents ive been in where when i jsut got reversparkign sensors and decided to test them out and by doing so i reversed into a parking pole ><! other then that i got rear ended at a red light lol :) By doing hand brake turns around corners make me a hoon?

[RoM2nV]

Damn stereotypes.

I have P-Plates, therefore I believe I am an invincible driver and am a 'hoon'

[spillige]

street racing, hooning is as old as cars them selves to think u can stop it is stupid. i still some times pull my p plates out a stick them on the car extra 20kws of hoon power at the wheels

[Ascendant Rice]

street racing, hooning is as old as cars them selves to think u can stop it is stupid. i still some times pull my p plates out a stick them on the car extra 20kws of hoon power at the wheels

wog plus P's is the ultimate hoon stereo type.

[DHC09]

In the eyes of the community and cops, how can they possibility tell if the guy behind the wheel is Saf with his two FIA licences or a hoon who just finished watching Tokyo Drift with a heavy right foot? The same argument can be made with the car one is driving, ie “I have upgraded brakes so I have a shorter braking distance that others”, or “I have coilovers and performance tyres, so I can corner twice the recommended speed”

I personally think the gov should stop buying hummers and other stupid ideas and pay for every learner to attend defensive courses which include scare scenarios eg, drive down a mock school zone at various speeds with “kids” popping out, and drive around a corner at speed and feel the car spin out or understeer into the cones, etc so they can understand WHY they need to follow certain road rules.

[Leroy]

I personally think the gov should stop buying hummers and other stupid ideas and pay for every learner to attend defensive courses which include scare scenarios eg, drive down a mock school zone at various speeds with “kids” popping out, and drive around a corner at speed and feel the car spin out or understeer into the cones, etc so they can understand WHY they need to follow certain road rules.

I agree with the sentiment on greater education... but do you really think that will make them follow the road rules to a greater extent?

Most kids I've ever known who have gone on defensive driving courses, whilst they may have learnt something, have come back with a huge smile on their face - talking about how awesome it was that they got to speed and go sideways. Going on such courses only makes them even more over confident to drive fast.

That's why I'm for harsher penalties... reducing the amount of proven idiots on the road, rather than giving them second and third chances.

You don't give armed robbers a second chance to use their weapon in a nicer fashion... why should drivers be any different?

[Speedz]

I think driving training should be implemented as part of the mainstream public/private school curriculum from Year 10, educate the kids from an young age against dangerous driving (excessive speed on a suburban street), irresponsible behaviour (road rage, cutting ppl off, texting sms etc...)

Me reckons this would be a good start...

Follow by perhaps like when TGUK James May's take on the Finnish segment, having kids able to take control on the vehicle on skid pads etc...

It will cost crap loads of money which I think both the state and the federal govt would rather fine us more and throw more stupid statistics at us...

[SQU-47N]

Iv got a mate on his l's and he learns to drive in his dad brand new maloo 6.0l ute??? No restrictions, its a ******n joke this is where young fellas get the feel for power and wanna drive like a hoon. So why isnt there a restrictions on learner drivers. Hmmm

[DHC09]

I personally think the gov should stop buying hummers and other stupid ideas and pay for every learner to attend defensive courses which include scare scenarios eg, drive down a mock school zone at various speeds with “kids” popping out, and drive around a corner at speed and feel the car spin out or understeer into the cones, etc so they can understand WHY they need to follow certain road rules.

I agree with the sentiment on greater education... but do you really think that will make them follow the road rules to a greater extent?

Most kids I've ever known who have gone on defensive driving courses, whilst they may have learnt something, have come back with a huge smile on their face - talking about how awesome it was that they got to speed and go sideways. Going on such courses only makes them even more over confident to drive fast.

That was actually the point I was going (supposed) to make too, but had to go prep the BBQ :P

The "side effect" of these defensive driving courses is over confidence. If only the maturity test was a requirement for young drivers.

This could be a crazy idea, but how bout making everyone take a quick test (both written and practical) every 5-10yrs? I'm mean if surgeons and teachers need to do it, why not drivers, since someones life or well-being may very well in the drivers hand. (this is to weed out sh!tty drivers and old drivers. Yes, I personally see old drivers as hazardous as young ones. Actually, I've prob had more near misses from so called experienced drivers, than L or P platers.)

[chicaboo]

This could be a crazy idea, but how bout making everyone take a quick test (both written and practical) every 5-10yrs? I'm mean if surgeons and teachers need to do it, why not drivers, since someones life or well-being may very well in the drivers hand. (this is to weed out sh!tty drivers and old drivers. Yes, I personally see old drivers as hazardous as young ones. Actually, I've prob had more near misses from so called experienced drivers, than L or P platers.)

Implementing that is very difficult, as you are taking in the entire driving population at set periodic intervals, on top of the already busy existing departments for licensing and driver testing.

Gav.

[DHC09]

Yes I know. Hence I admit it was a crazy idea :P