Jalopnik
Eventually, auto enthusiasts of the Australian persuasion will rise up with pitchforks and torches and rebel against their fun-hating government. On Sunday, police in New South Wales descended upon a gathering of motorheads and proceeded to search 72 vehicles, issue 39 tickets and impound 18 vehicle — one of which was a rare $200,000 Ford Falcon GT. This wouldn't be such a huge deal except for that part about the impounding being permanent, and the vehicles being sent to auction, and the proceeds going to government coffers. Adding insult to injury for that Falcon driver, what was the offense? A second burnout ticket.
Look, we have no issue with a government confiscating cars used in the utility of a felony, but when you make driving felonious and profitable for the government, abuse is inevitable. Confiscating private property under weak pretense doesn't sound like the protection of citizens, it seems like a business model. There's a fine line between policing and harassing, and we're not the lawyer types, but this stinks to high heaven. [TheNewspaper]
Comments
Dear Lord. Thank god I don't live there.
"That's not a subpoena.. THIS is a subpoena!"
In other news, the Road Warrior is now known as the Sidewalk Warrior.
"Look, we have no issue with a government confiscating cars used in the utility of a felony,"
Well, you probably should. Whenever you turn police work into a for-profit business, the result is never good. You have outcomes ranging all the way from small towns ticketing everyone with out of state plates for going more than 1 MPH over the speed limit all the way up to big city cops enriching themselves in the local drug trade. This is certainly not the sort of practice that should be given legal sanction.
This is why we can't let the Government take away our guns, people!
It lets the criminals be able to walk in and take whatever they want!
Only a matter of time before this starts happening in Ontario.
Our anti-fun law only oncorporates a 7 day impound... for now.
@SexCpotatoes:
[Puts on foil hat. Gets popcorn]
@DeadFlorist: You must have driven through Summersville, WV!
'Member this?
Tomorrow-morrow Land!
'Member this?
The River of Hoons!
'Member this?
Falcon GT!
'Member this?
Captain Walker!
'Member this?
Mrs. Walker!
Then Captain Walker picked them
of an age and good for a long hoon.
They counted twenty, and that were them.
The great meet up.
"Hoon party departed
at first light. . .
. . .Led by Flight Captain G.L. Walker. "
"May God have mercy on our souls. "
They said bidey-bye to them
what they'd driven.
And from the nothing
they looked back. . .
. . .and Captain Walker hollered,
"Wait, one of us will hoon. "
"Wait, one of us will hoon. "
And somebody did come.
Walker!
How did this passive submission to authority happen in a former penal colony?
@Red AuerБЯд╒╒: ...Texas Ranger.
Oh wait, no, sorry.
Cars don't hoon.
People hoon.
I wouldn't mind running into a Falcon GT at the $500 po-po auctions.
Lose your car based on hearsay? WTF!
[www.thenewspaper.com]
Think of the children! No, seriously... if they don't do burnouts now, who will teach them?
What the f*ck i thought the Aussies had balls?
@SexCpotatoes: Exactly.
Sweet Mary mother-of-pearl.... These two links were buried toward the end of the article:
[www.thenewspaper.com]
[www.thenewspaper.com]
@beercheck: Note to self... Don't own and/or hoon a valuable vehicle in Australia
Oh yeah sorry about that officer -- my accelerator pedal was stuck to the floor....I had to continue circling the roundabout to prevent from crashing.
This makes me nauseous.
@Red AuerБЯд╒╒: All a cop has to do is follow anyone with a powerful car around until they take off to quickly. Ticket. Then again. Ticket. Then a third: Confiscate. Officer's paycheck is covered for two years.
The invitation for abuse with a law like this is incalculable. It's only briefly been in effect, and already the authorities' zeal is....scary. I can't see those departments NOT hiring more officers with the sole purpose of enforcing this in maximum fashion.
@beercheck: I can't see those departments NOT hiring more officers with the sole purpose of enforcing this in maximum fashion.
They will certainly be able to afford it.
Has this "thenewspaper.com" site been vetted? I'm hoping this is all a big sham.
Any Aussies care to chime in?
I don't know much about the Australian Constitution, but this HAS to be against it.
What will it take for auto enthusiasts to have had enough? Don't they realize that car enthusiasts are citizens too?
@beercheck: Hoon laws, confiscation, speed cameras, it's all for real.
I got the impression that a number of Aussies were self conscious about how their society is perceived.
To them I beg - please don't succumb to the softening of the western world. Use your opportunity to hoon, grill prawns, and consume slabs, all with great zeal.
The more I read about this crap, the more it makes me sick. Seriously, permanently confiscating $200K cars? That's just stupid. I'm glad I don't live there, and I don't even fishtail or anything. I just wouldn't want to live in a place like that.
@TRAMS_AM: No wonder I havent seen a Fosters ad in awhile!
To contradict the above initial statement. "Hoon Law" is appropriate, it is not like they are doing burnouts in deserted streets, they are doing burnouts and playing very very loud music in or near Apartment blocks and Restaurants/Shops. Given the context, this is a deterrent. When you get 200-300 cars doing burnouts and turning the woofers up full blast near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco , that would be a rough equivalent.
@RobertRyan1: Then there are very, very specific enforcement zones?
@RobertRyan1:But do the ends justify the means? Not in this case.
There were already laws in place to deter that behaviour. Heavy handed consequences such as this are too extreme.
Doing the same thing at Summernats and other official events is great. The problem is the "illegal" stuff and serious multiple fatalities / annoyance that comes from that makes the legal stuff look bad.
beercheck exactly. A lot of mainly Arabic and Southern European males think it is "macho" to blast around Suburban neighborhoods and do burnouts. When you get several hundred cars doing it in what was quiet suburban streets , not a great idea.
danio3834 Yes there are laws in place, but the cultures these people come from it is the norm to ignore the law. Confiscating a car, makes the whole group think twice.
If you get 200-300 cars doing burnouts and turning the woofers up full blast I would like the courtesy of a video!
@RobertRyan1: I agree that that would be inappropriate behaviour, but this law is wide open to abuse. The authorities are clearly zealous about enforcing it and in many situations it could come down to an officers word against your own.
This 'hearsay' mechanism is particularly shocking. Basically, you could fall out with some dick and all they've got to do is shop you to the Feds three times for fictional offences and that's your car gone. That's bullshit.
What happens if you overcook it by mistake? I've a little diesel hatchback and it's surprisingly easy to get it to spin its wheels in wet weather or on loose surfaces. You don't need to accelerate excessively; it simply has a lot of torque for its relatively low weight and that's enough to unhook it. In Australia I could be hit with a ticket for pulling away uphill on a wet road.
@RobertRyan1: That kinda brings up questions of other sorts (profiling, discrimination, uneven application of the law, officer discretion, etc..).
I'm reserving my judgement on this for now. My default is still the last ones who need more authority are the authorities, but sometimes.. Need more intel. Sure does sound awful so far, though.
With those kind of Draconian laws, is their a statistic of people fleeing the police? Has the rate gone up? Losing ones car, seems like a good incentive to attempt to outrun them!
@SexCpotatoes: Agreed.
@triumph:
Couldn't find the town scene I was looking for, but...
[video.google.com]
Wow, and I thought the US was heading down the pooper. Well, i guess RFID chips in my passport, license, creditcards, etc. and warrantless wiretaps are better than taking my ride for smokin 'em a lil. Australia, now is your time to shine! Somebody fudge with your PM's throttle linkage and or clutch!! REPO THE PM"S CAR!
As much as I dislike the road, pun intended, the US has been on since, well, McCarthy-ism, or thereabouts, it's still one of the best places on the planet...and that's not much of a compliment to this rock on which we reside.
I wonder if the gubment is now going to imprison me for speaking ill of how said government abuses its power. Probably. If speaking my mind becomes illegal, I'm WAY guilty.
This reminds me, I need to find another anti-Patriot Act window/bumper sticker. Sold the last vehicle, and it'd look downright esoteric on my Mercedes....
This reminds me of the anti-drug bullshit of the '80's, wherein, if so much as a speck of 'dope' is in your vehicle/house, the gubment may then confiscate the enitre thing and auction it to the highest bidder, with no recourse. Welcome to freedom!
Hey, make everything but the tuly ugly shit legal, and Darwinism will sort it out quickly.
Yugos count as 'ugly shit'...as do Pintos.
Asstralia is hilarious.
@beercheck: Im going later in the summer. Im already excited. How do I get my leather/armor through the airport security I wonder.
You can take away our hoonmobiles, but you can never take away our freedom!
Yes, this is one of the few cases where I actually care about Mel Gibson's opinion.
Unfortunately and unsurprisingly we Aussies are a laid back bunch and never "will rise up with pitchforks and torches and rebel against their fun-hating government". It's too much to do for most Aussies who'd rather smoke bongs and drink their sorrows while their pride and joy is either sold or smashed up in a 'government research crash lab (a government rub it in your face exercise).
Our State government know this fact and use it to their advantage. Even our so called motorist advocates group 'NRMA' (similar to AAA) have turned into just another greedy insurance company and are a toothless tiger. It would be nice to murder this government and install a more car friendly one but I'd rather pack another cone and watch some more South Park.
You are not going to get too many sympathy votes about "Hoons" in Australia. They have the social acceptability of Los Angeles Street gangs.Although they would disagree. These laws are aimed at them, as they ignore quite regularly quite a few other traffic laws.
[quote]Earlier this month, about 1000 people gathered at a popular hangout for hoon drivers in the Melbourne suburb Noble Park. The crowd became violent after police blocked off the intersection of Princes Highway and Elonera Road - an area often used for illegal drag racing.
Fifty police officers struggled to control the[b] angry spectators who trashed and looted three stores[/b]. Five cars were seized and six men arrested for misbehaviour. Police have vowed to hunt down others involved in the riot.
The Noble Park riot followed an attack on cars in a street in Mill Park,[b] where vehicles were vandalised as revenge for suspected involvement in hoon activity[/b].[/quotr]
Regrettably these 'laws' are about controlling the dickhead quotient here in Oz. Both NSW and Vic have bought in some quite onerous anti-hoon rules.....which the majority of the populace quite honestly agree with.
The most contentious part of the laws (the impoundment bit) is typically overstated - impoundment generally only lasts for a few days (although the accompanying licence suspension can go for three months or more). I've not heard of anyone (yet) losing their car totally....probably cause the police couldn't be arsed about the paperwork
For more info...try