WA Spotted & Chit Chat Thread

[sixappeal]

Champ!! Thanks for ya help Dean

[Under-Pants]

Hey guys just got something to share; hopefully it helps some of you guys avoid a similar situation.

A bloke very close to me got done under the hoon laws last Friday. Second time licence loss but only his first hooning offence, his car was of course confiscated. Today in caught he pled guilty to the charge - reckless driving - as he was seen by cops doing a powerskid up a public road. I don't condone the action and yes it's unfortunate that he was silly enough to do that on a public road and of course get caught, although he did do it on a near abandoned street with zero traffic/pedestrians at night time.

Anyway, the point of my post is that it appears the police/magistrates have had greater powers bestowed upon them as despite this bloke taking-it-on-the-chin & pleading guilty to the charge, the magistrate ordered that his car be impounded until the 13th of January 2009 and his licence be suspended for 2 years. I'm sure that they only have the power to impound vehicles for 7 days for a first hooning offence & remove licences for 6 - 9 months max, but in this case it appears the magistrate had the power to choose his own sentence, and being notorious for being an absolute , he dished out 2 months vehicle impoundment and a 2 year licence suspension.

I'm not really sure what I could achieve by posting this in here, but I'll be happy if at least someone doesn’t have to take the kind of punishment for a comparatively small, whilst still naughty, action.

Cheers Kael

[Guest]

If you wanna be an idiot on ANY public road, be it a freeway or a deserted back alley somewhere, you have to be prepared to take the consequences. I'm not a perfect driver by any means & you coud look at my history for proof, but I've always been aware of the consequences when doing silly things. Just because you plead guilty it doesn't mean they go easy on you either...

[chubbzilla]

A suspended license for 2 years seems a bit steep to me, given you can beat someone to within an inch of their life, and cop a similar, if not lighter sentence. This is such a touchy subject to get onto, personally I believe that the powers that be are focusing on the wrong issue. I'm not saying hoons aren't dangerous etc etc (the word "hoon" gets thrown around a lot though, anybody with an interest in/mods their car is labelled a hoon nowadays) but I've been put at greater risk by complacent drivers lacking common sense and simply not paying attention. I find that A LOT of your average road users believe if they do the speed limit, they are somehow encased in some bubble of invulerability, and so let their concentration lapse.

Leading to things I have seen by "your average road user" - rolling through stop signs, failing to merge, changing lanes without checking blind spot and almost hitting nearby cars, and being generally clueless etc etc the list goes on...

The point of my story is that I think greater emphasis should be placed on driver training and awareness, and ppl like Kaels mate, while some punishment is still in order, shouldn't be made an example of to such an extent. I also think time and place should be considered, but I dunno how practical that would be...prolly not very.

[chubbzilla]

Spotted a Bionic 'phoon goin north on the Mitchell about 4:30 - 4:40, couldn't catch the plates, I was ridin the coon limo...

[bluute]

spotted shaun's(spell?) ute with a tidy dyno graph

and deans beast in a certain persons driveway today

nizpro kit looks the goods mate

[Mat]

Superdan in the Chicken Treat drive through at Innaloo today! Saw a white T in the mirror with F6 rims and black strips. Was in my ute so im not sure he knew what was going on!

[Under-Pants]

Hey guys just got something to share; hopefully it helps some of you guys avoid a similar situation.

Anyway, the point of my post is that it appears the police/magistrates have had greater powers bestowed upon them

the magistrate ordered that his car be impounded until the 13th of January 2009 and his licence be suspended for 2 years. I'm sure that they only have the power to impound vehicles for 7 days for a first hooning offence & remove licences for 6 - 9 months max, but in this case it appears the magistrate had the power to choose his own sentence, and being notorious for being an absolute , he dished out 2 months vehicle impoundment and a 2 year licence suspension.

I'll be happy if at least someone doesn’t have to take the kind of punishment for a comparatively small, whilst still naughty, action.

Where did I say anything about not wanting to accept consequences or wanting it easier on the back of a guilty plea?

As far as I, and everyone else I know knows, under the law you lose your vehicle for 7 days & licence for 6 months if caught hooning, that is the punishment you have to be willing to accept. It would appear that somehow magistrates have been given powers to make examples of people as they see fit and dish out such penalties ^^. My purpose was to inform people of this so they can avoid making a similar mistake & have examples made of them as performance car drivers. Although I was in some ways expecting a comment from you Dean.

[Mat]

Dude, they all corrupt dogs!

I once went to court with my bro (MAJOR 3rd gear skid up Wanneroo Road- yes he's been stupid a few times now...) and the judge HAMMERED him yet the single, jobless mum who was twice the legal limit picking her kids up from school, who's lost her license before, got off with a slap on the wrist.

I put it down to hoons being easy targets to convict. Its easier for them to show the general community they are actually DOING SOMETHING (meanwhile more and more people are dying on our roads) so they forget about the real issues (crime / drugs / pedo's hanging around schools etc).

All you can do is have a car that doesnt attract attention and choose your time and place carefully.

[chubbzilla]