Bloody Hoons ....

[Shano592 (Shane)]

We had an interesting incident last night ....

As the wind was so strong last night, any telescoping opportunity was non-existent, so I decided to stay in and watch Picard et al's antics on the box.

At about 10:15pm from out on the street, there was the sound of 4 wheels in an uncontrolled slide across road surface. I looked up, and all I saw was the flash of headlights across my second-storey windows.

I heard 2 noises - a whump and then a crunch. Before I knew it, I was downstairs and out the door. I made it to the car, just as the driver was freeing himself from the wreckage. He ran around to the passenger side to free his accomplice (frontal damage, so the fenders had jammed the doors shut), and then they bolted!

However ... genius that he was ... he outran his passenger (whom I assume was his girlfriend) and left her to the wolves - in this case, my neighbour, who chased and caught her a few streets away. He detained her until a divvy van arrived. The driver, meanwhile, was in the wind, jumping fences and running through peoples' yards.

Now, I did say that this guy was a genius.

It was his car! Not stolen, not borrowed. He was on green P's, and somewhat pished! And I think a little stoned too. He managed to leave not only his keys in the ignition (car, house, other), but he also left his ID, which matched the name on the Police database for the car.

Waste of a perfectly good XR6. Along with my retaining wall. That was the crunching sound. He has tried to drift around the corner at at least 60km/h, completely lost any grip and slid across the road ... through the drainage ditch (the whumping sound of dirt flying everywhere), into my property, damaging my dirt driveway, and crunching through the wooden retaining wall.

Amazingly, the airbags didn't deploy (I'm guessing due to the more significant sideways motion) which means the car may not be written off. His insurance, however ...

Once he realised that his passenger was in custody, he presented himself at the Police station (about an hour after the crash), where he was charged with driving with an alcohol reading on P's. I hope they drug tested him too.

I will upload bad, late night, dark property photos once I get my phone to meet with my laptop.

/END RANT


TL;DR - Bloody hoons. Crashed a car into my yard, damaged my property.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Good rant Shano .
I work for an engineering place here in Perth that specialises in Insurance work and its amazing how many hoons like your one end up thru fences , brick walls , gates , swmming pools and even houses here , its one of our main source's of work repairing these idiots damage ,, it is a growth industry sorry to say.
Its a wonder some poor pedestrians don't get skittled .
Brian.

[rat156]

Originally Posted by Shano592

We had an interesting incident last night ....

As the wind was so strong last night, any telescoping opportunity was non-existent, so I decided to stay in and watch Picard et al's antics on the box.

At about 10:15pm from out on the street, there was the sound of 4 wheels in an uncontrolled slide across road surface. I looked up, and all I saw was the flash of headlights across my second-storey windows.

I heard 2 noises - a whump and then a crunch. Before I knew it, I was downstairs and out the door. I made it to the car, just as the driver was freeing himself from the wreckage. He ran around to the passenger side to free his accomplice (frontal damage, so the fenders had jammed the doors shut), and then they bolted!

snip

Waste of a perfectly good XR6. Along with my retaining wall. That was the crunching sound. He has tried to drift around the corner at at least 60km/h, completely lost any grip and slid across the road ... through the drainage ditch (the whumping sound of dirt flying everywhere), into my property, damaging my dirt driveway, and crunching through the wooden retaining wall.

I find amazing that you can come to this conclusion after seeing just a flash of headlights. Could it not be that the driver has just misjudged the corner in probably pretty bad weather conditions. Had it been raining at all? How do you know he was drunk? Why do you surmise that he was on drugs?

Originally Posted by Shano592

Amazingly, the airbags didn't deploy (I'm guessing due to the more significant sideways motion) which means the car may not be written off. His insurance, however ...

snip

Does an XR6 have side airbags? The driver and passenger front ones would not have deployed as the car was involved in a sideways collision. If it does have side airbags and they didn't go off, then it hasn't hit your wall very hard.

What is the speed limit along that stretch of road, is it 50, 60 or more? You seem to be judging this person because they have made a single, possibly simple error. What would people call you if they had seen you at your worst?

It seems, like many other things in this country, that it's easier to make up a catchy slogan (speed kills, stop the boats etc) and to brand people (hoons, illegal arrivals etc) than it is to tackle the real causes of the problems. So, keep up the good work, don't look any deeper than you need to find the slogan or branding that is convenient, your elected government will thank you for not delving into the issues and coming up with inconvenient facts.

/rant

Cheers
Stuart

[geoffw89 (Geoff)]

That's disappointing mate. I spent far too long trying to convince youngsters to join a car club and be involved in the properly managed motorsport events conducted in the right environment, ours or anyone elses. Unfortunately the coolness factor of drifting and the drain of funding from grass roots motorsport to the big end of town (Supertaxi racing among others) made the fight almost impossible, not to mention the political efforts to marginalise anyone guilty of the offence of enjoying a motor vehicle. This has resulted in even poorer driving skills as operating a motor vehicle is now simply an inconvenience to the majority and attempting to improve is viewed as going down the dark road of becoming a hoon, a *******ised word that originally had nothing to do with ripping it up in a car. So I have given up and do my own thing now, race with any club when I want, or skills events as they come along. Eventually I think insurance companies will get the idea and realise that unless people have done something more than just get a basic license, with which they are barely competent and an increased insurance risk and will then crank up their policies until they have at least an advanced driving course under their belt, instead of a small discount for a defensive course. maybe then we will see the road toll start to fall again, instead of going the other way under current misguided attempts at road safety.

[casstony]

Originally Posted by rat156

I find amazing that you can come to this conclusion after seeing just a flash of headlights.

......... and dumping the partner and doing a runner, instead of standing around embarrassed as one would after a genuine accident. Shane has made assumptions but he's probably not far off the mark.

[casstony]

Geoff, I noticed on my insurance renewal that AAMI provides a free Skilled Drivers Course for young drivers and a subsequent 10% discount on premiums - seems like a good idea.
In lieu of something like that I'd take the kids to a remote gravel road with clear sides and teach them to control slides myself - much easier to learn on gravel than wet bitumen but the skills are transferable in an emergency.

[geoffw89 (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by casstony

......... and dumping the partner and doing a runner, instead of standing around embarrassed as one would after a genuine accident. Shane has made assumptions but he's probably not far off the mark.

So just another selfish and juvenile product of our current education and social systems? Perhaps even not indicative of performance car owners (aka Hoons to the general populace)?

[doppler (Rick)]

I learnt to handle a car by "hooning" in the dirt, in the wet in places where no one was around ie I could only break my own car. It is now illegal to learn these skills ie how to control a rear end slide as you can only do this by experience. Sad example I never taught my daughter how to control a rear end slide. She was doing a right hand turn at an intersection (wet road) when halfway through the turn the auto trans kicked into second causing the rear to slide a bit. She put on the brakes making things worse and hit the gaurd rail. Result, smashed car, $300 towtuck bill and to top it off $300 fine from the wollipers for not having control of her vehicle.

[casstony]

Originally Posted by geoffw89

So just another selfish and juvenile product of our current education and social systems?

On that note, I expect we'll see a continual increase in antisocial behavior associated with inequality in wealth distribution. We can't expect that disenfranchised subset of young people to behave well if they feel excluded from society.

[geoffw89 (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by casstony

Geoff, I noticed on my insurance renewal that AAMI provides a free Skilled Drivers Course for young drivers and a subsequent 10% discount on premiums - seems like a good idea.
In lieu of something like that I'd take the kids to a remote gravel road with clear sides and teach them to control slides myself - much easier to learn on gravel than wet bitumen but the skills are transferable in an emergency.

That's a start Tony but defensive driving courses don't teach enough IMO and premiums should be much higher for those who couldn't be inconvenienced with learning to properly control their vehicle. It's one thing to understand that you are little more than a passenger when you lose grip, but your option of taking them out in the forests has real value.

I conducted a fair bit of driver training over time, including defensive, advanced, offensive/protective, heavy vehicles, armoured vehicles and race track skills. Driving home after a day out last night and I was astounded that people drove so close together in marginal conditions just after light fresh rain. Just one case of how little people understand about driving. My usual safety gap is soon occupied by someone that lacks the patience to consider the safety implications of the conditions. Sure I'll rub guards and bumpers on the track, we are out there by choice and trust is important, but the average licensed driver shouldn't even have a push scooter to control.

[casstony]

Originally Posted by doppler

I learnt to handle a car by "hooning" in the dirt, in the wet in places where no one was around ie I could only break my own car. It is now illegal to learn these skills ie how to control a rear end slide as you can only do this by experience.

I'm a 'spirit of the law' rather than 'letter of the law' kinda guy - just need to make sure some cranky cop just out of diapers doesn't see you doing the right thing.

[Eden (Brett)]

It's just as well that you weren't out there imaging with your telescope -- the vibrations surely would have ruined what could have been a winning exposure.

On a more serious note, sorry to hear about the damage to your retaining wall. The driver and his passenger were lucky and I'm glad that you didn't end up facing a more gruesome scene when you went out there...

[geoffw89 (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by doppler

I learnt to handle a car by "hooning" in the dirt, in the wet in places where no one was around ie I could only break my own car. It is now illegal to learn these skills ie how to control a rear end slide as you can only do this by experience. Sad example I never taught my daughter how to control a rear end slide. She was doing a right hand turn at an intersection (wet road) when halfway through the turn the auto trans kicked into second causing the rear to slide a bit. She put on the brakes making things worse and hit the gaurd rail. Result, smashed car, $300 towtuck bill and to top it off $300 fine from the wollipers for not having control of her vehicle.

Yep, thanks to a govt pandering to the NIMBYs with a topic they think wins votes. Not helped by Coppers with little to no driving skill and far too sycophantic to develop an opinion of their own.

Originally Posted by casstony

On that note, I expect we'll see a continual increase in antisocial behavior associated with inequality in wealth distribution. We can't expect that disenfranchised subset of young people to behave well if they feel excluded from society.

A fair point mate. I saw it living in ACT where the level of petty crime was about the highest in the country because many of the kids felt so disenfranchised due to having public servant mums and dads with good incomes but no-one to provide them regular entertainment, so they robbed and vandalised. Money isn't always the factor in anti-social behaviour but it can be a start. I grew up poor but always had things to do and I think it made a difference.

[doppler (Rick)]

Originally Posted by casstony

I'm a 'spirit of the law' rather than 'letter of the law' kinda guy - just need to make sure some cranky cop just out of diapers doesn't see you doing the right thing.

Unfortunatly here in Qld there is a fine and demerit points for everything and P platers are easy prey (and you have to be on p plates for 3 years). The cops have to prove their performance (revenue raising), so are reluctant to give warnings. The younger cops here are more tolerant, the ones in their 30's and 40's are the cranky ones.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

Just a quick response.

I 'assume' he was on drugs, because he rang his mum to come and get him, whilst running away. He told her he had been drinking, and had drugs in his system. My neighbour was pacing him down the street while this was happening, and heard everything that he said. My neighbour was reluctant to physically apprehend him, so was in his ear for about a kilometre.

The road was dry, the sky was clear. There was no moisture on the road at all. The temperature was about 8 degrees, but the wind was strong. People down the street that he came up, stated that he was speeding heavily.

The gearshift lever was snapped off inside the car, too. I'm not sure if he was holding the lever and broke it, or if the skate over the drainage ditch really smashed up the transmission.

Rat, I see that you are a car person. So am I. I'm also a grown-up, who values his property over the wellbeing of idiots who put themselves and others at risk, on public roads.

If this clown had stayed and faced things as a man (he is 26), my opinion of him as a person would be much different to what it currently is.

To be on P-Plates at 26, suggests 2 things to me. 1. He got his license at an older age. 2. He has been done for a drink-driving offence before, and has had to start again. Irrelevant to what happened, for the most-part, but maybe an insight into his mindset.

My insurance covers the retaining wall, so I will have nothing further to do with the guy, unless he comes over to apologise for being an idiot.

[Kunama]

Originally Posted by rat156

i find amazing that you can come to this conclusion after seeing just a flash of headlights. Could it not be that the driver has just misjudged the corner in probably pretty bad weather conditions. Had it been raining at all? How do you know he was drunk? Why do you surmise that he was on drugs?



Does an xr6 have side airbags? The driver and passenger front ones would not have deployed as the car was involved in a sideways collision. If it does have side airbags and they didn't go off, then it hasn't hit your wall very hard.

What is the speed limit along that stretch of road, is it 50, 60 or more? You seem to be judging this person because they have made a single, possibly simple error. What would people call you if they had seen you at your worst?

It seems, like many other things in this country, that it's easier to make up a catchy slogan (speed kills, stop the boats etc) and to brand people (hoons, illegal arrivals etc) than it is to tackle the real causes of the problems. So, keep up the good work, don't look any deeper than you need to find the slogan or branding that is convenient, your elected government will thank you for not delving into the issues and coming up with inconvenient facts.

/rant

cheers
stuart

wtf ????? It would seem to me that Shane was in a far better position to make those calls than anyone typing on this thread.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Kunama

wtf ????? It would seem to me that Shane was in a far better position to make those calls than anyone typing on this thread.

Matt this the sort of post we have come to expect from Stuart i'm afraid.
Cheers

[Baddad (Marty)]

Hi,
I agree with Ron and Matt.

Shane, You done well.
Cheers

[AstroJunk (Jonathan)]

Originally Posted by doppler

The younger cops here are more tolerant, the ones in their 30's and 40's are the cranky ones.

That's because the older coppers are fed up with the paperwork associated with scraping dead teenagers into body bags...

[hotspur (Chris)]

That's dreadful Shane,it would have been an awful noise,and not knowing exactly what you were going to find when you went outside.

I'm staggered by the response of one IIS member,if someone has been in any sort of MVA,and runs away from the site,it would be fairly logical to think they were up to no good,or in this case had been up to no good.

Well done to your neighbour for tracking from a distance.Hope the fence is fixed soon,was good that no one was walking along the foot path.