These are the same hoons I have been directly targeting. With over 5,000 rego's on a database the hoons days are numbered.
Bruce Shingles shows where hoon drivers have been destroying the car park. Picture: Pat Scala
Crime and Court Hoon drivers trash Limeburners Point
Olivia Shying, Geelong Advertiser
November 16, 2017 12:30am
Subscriber only
HOON drivers are trashing Geelong’s Limeburners Point — smashing glass, setting rubber alight and tearing up and down the popular strip.
Police are increasing patrols to keep tabs on the hoons who gather in large groups of up to 30 people at Limeburners Road car park from 10pm until the early hours of the morning most nights.
Highway Patrol Sergeant Jason Van Doren said police regularly received calls from distressed residents who could hear drivers doing burnouts along the strip.
Geelong resident Bruce Shingles is one of many fed-up locals sick of being woken up by speeding hoons and finding smashed bottles and burnt tyres strewn throughout the car park.
“The behaviour is just disgusting,’ Mr Shingles said.
“We get a hell of a lot of tourist operators coming here and look at the mess they see.”
Police recently arrested a 26-year-old Moolap man who allegedly completed a series of three doughnuts in his white Holden Commodore in front of a group of people at Limeburners Point carpark.
The man, who immediately had his car impounded, was charged with careless driving and improper use of a vehicle and will appear before Geelong Magistrates’ Court.
Sergeant van Doren said police would not tolerate anti-social behaviour that put lives at risk.
“There are some legitimate people who like to look at nice cars on a warm night and go for a cruise (at Limeburners Point). But there is also an element of some people who go there and decide to act like a clown by doing burnouts,” Sergeant Van Doren said.
“People who are intentionally losing traction in their tyres and lose grip on the road by spinning around in circles could end up somewhere completely different to where they think they are going.”
He said police were monitoring the area and would continue to arrest and charge those who committed unlawful offences.
“Don’t think that just because you go to somewhere dark you are anonymous. We have various means to identify who you are,” Sergeant Van Doren said.
“You might have got away on the night, but don’t be too shocked if police knock on your door and charge you the next day,”
Tough anti-hoon laws give police powers to impound, immobilise or permanently confiscate vehicles. On top of vehicle seizure, a person found guilty of a hoon driving offence could be fined up to $34,000 and serve up to two years in prison.
Mr Shingles has called on the City of Greater Geelong to take action and consider locking the gate to the parking lot after hours to prevent carpark access.
“Every weekend there are mountains of rubbish and tyre remnants strewn everywhere,” Mr Shingles said.
“Lately, they are smashing bottles leaving glass scattered.
“Why wouldn’t the council lock the gate between dusk and dawn as no boats use the ramp overnight?”
The council’s director of city services Guy Wilson-Brown said the city would not support restricting access to Limeburners Point at night because it is well used for both recreational and commercial fishing.
“In the event of an emergency, access needs to be maintained to enable marine rescues and evacuations,” Mr Wilson-Brown said.
