Minister flags nation's toughest anti-hoon laws

Western Australia will soon have the nation's toughest anti-hoon laws after Police and Road Safety Minister Rob Johnson today announced he would introduce new legislation to Parliament this week.

Mr Johnson said the Road Traffic Amendment (Hoons) Bill 2009 would increase the period a vehicle was impounded from seven days to 28 for a first hoon offence and from 28 days to three months for a second offence.

The Minister said on a third and subsequent offence, a vehicle would be confiscated and proceeds from its sale would go to road safety projects. Vehicles of little value would be crushed.

"I pledged at the election to toughen the State's hoon laws to make our roads safer and today I am honouring that promise," Mr Johnson said.

"While most drivers do the right thing and use our roads responsibly, there are some who continue to snub their nose at the law and at the safety of others. My message to them is that they will be caught and they will lose their vehicle.

"People who repeatedly drive recklessly put lives at risk do not deserve to be on our roads."

Under the new legislation, reckless driving will be considered a hoon offence, with police not having to establish a circumstance of aggravation, such as racing, excessive noise or burnouts.

There will also be severe penalties for people who deface or devalue a vehicle after being served with a notice of intention to confiscate. This will cover situations where a person strips or damages their vehicle knowing it is about to be impounded or confiscated.

The Bill will give police power to arrest offenders for reckless driving - similar to the provision for arrest without warrant that currently exists for driving under the influence.

Mr Johnson said the Police Commissioner would also be able to recover costs from offenders for towage and storage.

From July 1 this year, there will be vehicle sanctions for unlicensed drivers. Under the new laws, if a person is detected driving without a valid licence, WA Police will impound the vehicle driven on the spot for 28 days. 

A court can impound a vehicle owned by second-time offender for up to 3 months and in the case of a third offence, a court can confiscate the offender's vehicle.

Mr Johnson said that unlicensed drivers posed an unacceptable risk on the road and were highly over-represented in road trauma statistics.

The Government has set up a new Demerit Point Hotline on 1300 720 111 to enable people to check their current demerit point status.

A print and radio campaign outlining the new laws begins this week. For more information, visit http://www.ors.wa.gov.au/