Hooning fact sheet - Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety ...

• Among other sanctions imposed(including fines, demerit points, andlicence disqualification), the vehiclesof drivers charged with an offenceunder the 2011 revision ofQueensland’s “anti-hooning”legislation are immediatelyimpounded for 7 days for a firstoffence or 28 days for a secondoffence, and subsequent offences canresult in an impoundment period ofup to three months or forfeiture tothe State. 7• Since the introduction of legislation inNovember 2002 and until the end of2009, 5,470 vehicles have beenimpounded for hooning offences. Ofthese, 5,288 were held for a period of48 hours for a first offence. A smallproportion of impoundments (n =208, 3.8%) were held for up to 3months for a second offence, while 19vehicles were forfeited to the statefor a third (n = 17, 0.30%) or fourth (n= 2, 0.04%) offences. 8Challenges for legislation• Decreasing the perceived rewards forhooning may prove quite difficult, asthey are highly individualised. 5• Approximately half of the vehiclesinvolved in hooning offences were 10to 20 years old (50.5%), which is olderthan the average car on the road.This may have implications for thedeterrent effect of vehicle sanctions,as these vehicles may be low infinancial value. 2• More than one third of vehicles usedin hooning offences are not registeredto the offender. 2 This also hasimplications for the deterrent effectof vehicle sanctions, as these may notbe applied to these drivers.• Those who have successfully avoidedpunishment several times may cometo think that they are immune toapprehension, decreasing theirperceived risk of punishment. 5• Current anti-hoon legislation mayneed to be enforced at higher levels inorder to achieve higher perceptions ofpunishment likelihood. 5 Simplyenacting anti-hoon legislation may notbe sufficient to deter hooning ifindividuals do not perceive thecertainty of punishment as beingsufficient to alter future willingness totake part in the behaviour.• Research suggests the possibility thatsome drivers may flee in order toavoid being caught by police for athird hooning offence and losing theirvehicles permanently. 4 As a policepursuit situation could be moredangerous than the hooning offence,it may be wise for police to follow uprepeat offenders at a later stage toseize the driver’s vehicle.CARRS-Q’S WORK IN THIS AREA• Qualitative exploratory study toexamine the experiences andthoughts of local car enthusiasts. 3• Self-report research with youngpeople to explore the prevalence,associated characteristics and crashesassociated with hooning. 1,5• Quantitative analysis of Queenslandhooning offence data to betterunderstand the hooning problem. 2• Self-report research with people whoengage in hooning behaviours inQueensland to explore the deterrentand other effects of vehicleimpoundment laws for hooning fromthe perspective of the targeteddriver. 4• Analysis of how Australianjurisdictions manage hooningbehaviours. 9• Comparisons of the traffic and crashhistories of hooning offenders toyoung drivers to explore whetherpeople who engage in hooning can beconsidered generally risky drivers.FUTURE DIRECTIONS• As ‘hooning’ may lead to roadcrashes, further research into thephenomenon is warranted andrecommended.• Ongoing enhancement of crash andhooning offence data collectionpractices is recommended to enabletargeted research.• Future research should explore:− the nature of the problem.− the risks associated with thedifferent types of hooningoffences;− the identification and explorationof sub-groups of hooningoffenders and offences;− the road safety implications ofhooning behaviours throughanalysis of traffic and crashhistories of hooning offenders,and comparisons between thecrash involvement of hooningoffenders and other known highriskgroups (eg. drink drivers,−unlicensed drivers and youngdrivers); andthe ongoing evaluation of currentapproaches.REFERENCES1. Gee Kee, Alita T. and Palk, Gavan R. andSteinhardt, Dale A. (2007) Hoon drivingbehaviour: Prevalence, associatedcharacteristics and crashes. In: 2007Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing andEducation Conference, 17-19 October 2007,Melbourne.2. Leal, Nerida L. and Watson, Barry C. and King,Mark (2007) Hooning offenders and offences:Who and what are we dealing with?In: Australasian Road Safety Research, Policingand Education Conference, 17 - 19 October,Melbourne, Australia.3. Armstrong, Kerry A. and Steinhardt, Dale A.(2006). Understanding street racing and 'hoon'culture: An exploratory investigation ofperceptions and experiences. Journal of theAustralasian College of Road Safety, 17(1), pp.38-44.4. Leal, Nerida and Watson, Barry and Armstrong,Kerry and King, Mark (2009) "There's no way inhell I would pull up" : Deterrent and othereffects of vehicle impoundment laws forhooning. In: Proceedings of the 2009Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing andEducation Conference and the 2009 IntelligenceSpeed Adaptation (ISA) Conference, 10-12November 2009, Sydney Convention andExhibition Centre, Sydney.5. Gee Kee, Alita and Steinhardt, Dale A. and Palk,Gavan (2007) Hoon driving: predictingwillingness to be involved from social learningand deterrence perspectives. In: 2007 RoadSafety: Research, Policing, EducationConference, 17-19th October, Melbourne.6. Leal, Nerida L. & Watson, Barry C. (2011) Theroad safety implications of illegal street racingand associated risky driving behaviours: Ananalysis of offences and offenders. AccidentAnalysis and Prevention, 43(4), pp. 1547-1554.7. Queensland Government. (2011). Governmentto implement tough new vehicle impoundmentlaws. Joint media statement of the Premier andMinister for Reconstruction The HonourableAnna Bligh and Police, Corrective Services andEmergency Services The Honourable NeilRoberts. 18 July 2011. www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/MMS/StatementDisplaySingle.aspx?id=757188. Queensland Police Service unpublished data, ascited in Leal, Nerida Louise (2010) Illegal streetracing and associated (hooning) behaviours.PhD thesis, Queensland University ofTechnology.9. Leal, Nerida L., Watson, Barry C., & Armstrong,Kerry A. (2010). Managing illegal street racingand associated risky driving behaviour: AnAustralian perspective. In Proceedings of the20th Canadian Multidisciplinary Road SafetyConference, Niagara Falls, Ontario.