POLICE have issued a warning to Wyndham hoons after new statistics revealed 579 drivers have had their cars impounded in the past six years.
State government figures show police have impounded an average of seven cars a month in Wyndham between the introduction of anti-hoon laws on July 1, 2006 and September 30 this year.
Wyndham had the third-highest number of impounds in the western suburbs, with 1212 hoons caught in Hume and 1113 drivers losing their cars in Brimbank.
Under anti-hoon laws, police can impound cars for 30 days. They have the power to extend impoundments for repeat offenders and can apply to have cars crushed.
Sergeant Graeme Crouch of Wyndham highway patrol said police were out every day to ensure dangerous drivers were removed from the municipality’s roads.
He said constant patrols were helping police tackle the problem.
“We have intelligence-led policing that directs us and we find the same areas are used by many offenders. Obviously, this is working as we are having a good success rate.”
Sergeant Crouch said most hoons caught in Wyndham were young drivers who were likely to be driving Holdens, Fords, Nissans, Toyotas and Hondas. Roads in Hoppers Crossing and Tarneit attract the most hoon drivers.
Sergeant Crouch said police impounded the car of an Albanvale woman, 19, on Saturday night after she was caught driving at 96km/h on Old Geelong Road in Hoppers Crossing.
He said the woman did a burnout while making a U-turn.
She will be charged on summons for careless driving, improper use of a motor vehicle and exceeding the speed limit.
Her car was the second car to be impounded on Old Geelong Road in five days.
As reported by the Weekly, a Hoppers Crossing man, 22, lost his car for 30 days after being detected driving at 118km/h in a 70 zone.
He was charged with exceeding the speed limit by 45km/h.
Police and Emergency Services Minister Peter Ryan said hoon data showed the most common driving offences were excessive speeding (45km/h or more over the speed limit), improper use of a motor vehicle and driving while disqualified or suspended.
He said the government and police were working on a new road safety strategy to remove dangerous drivers from the roads.
