Queensland Passes Strictest 'Anti-Hoon' Laws in Australia

Photo: Patrick Hamilton/AFP (Getty Images)

Cars can be incredible machines, but they should be enjoyed responsibly. Drifting a car at high speed through a public area lined with unprotected spectators isn’t responsible. Sideshows aren’t just an occurrence in North America but a global phenomenon. In Australia, the practice is referred to simply as hooning. Queensland has now passed the strictest “anti-hoon” law in the country. The new laws could even see spectators at sideshows facing charges.

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The reach of Queensland’s new “anti-hoon” laws extends far past those driving dangerously. It will now be an offense to organize, promote or spectate a group hooning event. The new offenses also include filming or photographing a hooning event or possessing items associated with hooning, like a fake license plate. Drive reports that drivers and spectators can be fined up to $6,000 Australian (or nearly $4,000). Drivers who are caught could face up to a year in prison and have their car destroyed.

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan said in a statement:

“If you want to tear up our roads, we’ll tear up your car. If you want to be a spectator at a hooning event, you will be breaking the law. If you promote a hooning event, it will be an offense. If you behave in an anti-social manner and put the lives of others and yourself at risk, you will be targeted relentlessly by police. Life is precious. Too many lives are lost on our roads. Hooning will not be tolerated.”

The strict laws also require that the registered owners of a vehicle involved in a hooning event prove that they weren’t driving. Only time will tell if Queensland’s near-zero tolerance for dangerous driving actually reduces the instance of hooning around the Australian state.