Ageing Darebin revhead busted
Melinda Marshall
08Jul08
A MIDDLE-aged revhead had his supercharged V8 Mercedes seized by police, becoming the oldest local driver snared by anti-hooning laws.
The 51-year-old from Fairfield was busted for fishtailing through a Ballarat street in his Mercedes E55, a high-powered car that can accelerate from a standing start to 100km/h in just five seconds.
Only one woman was among 113 Darebin drivers whose cars have been impounded since July 2006.
She hails from Reservoir. The 34-year-old was doing fishtails in Broadmeadows.
More typical of speed demons was the 18-year-old from Bundoora who had been sporting P-plates for just two months.
He was caught fishtailing his Holden Commodore over tram tracks at 120km/h in Brunswick St, Fitzroy, a 60km/h zone.
As well as facing a raft of dangerous driving charges, he had to watch his pride and joy being towed away to be impounded for 48 hours at the police depot in Raglan St, Preston.
Darebin traffic police say the seizures show the two-year-old hoon laws are working. "I certainly think that the message is getting through," Epping traffic management unit Acting Sen-Sgt Geoff Joshua said.
"Certainly our collision rates are heading in the right direction and that's downwards."
Since the laws were introduced, Victoria Police have impounded nearly 5000 vehicles from drivers caught street racing, speeding at more than 45km/h over the limit, or doing dangerous stunts like burnouts and donuts.
Darebin's northern suburbs have a worse hoon problem than the south.
Of the 100 hoons from all over Melbourne nabbed in Darebin, most were processed at Reservoir and Preston police stations, with just 23 processed by Northcote police.
