NZ: Noisy car hoons face tough penalties

stuff.co.nz
Jan. 09, 2006

Hoons in noisy modified cars will feel the full force of tough new penalties that come into effect next week, police say.

The new laws give police the power to hand out 10 demerit points and a $250 instant fine to those deemed to be driving overly noisy cars.

The Land Transport Act changes will be introduced on January 16.

Police say they will be rigorously enforcing the laws to punish hoons who have terrorised residents with noisy modified cars.

The law change will also increase the level of automatic punishments for drivers caught well over the speed limit, under the influence of alcohol and recidivist drink-drivers.

Acting Canterbury road policing manager Senior Sergeant Trevor Pullen warned: "If you are going to be racing around like a hoon making lots of noise, eventually you are going to lose your licence."

Police officers will be able to impose an instant $250 fine, increased from the current level of $150, and demerit points if they felt a car was "significantly louder than it should be", Pullen said.

There was no existing legal test of what constituted a noisy vehicle so individual officers had to make their own assessment, he said.

Officers would take into account factors such as the time of day and impact of the noisy car when making a decision to issue tickets, Pullen said.

"Driving a noisy vehicle at 3am on Dyers Pass Road is going to cause more trouble than doing it during the day, for example."

Pullen said the additional power to impose demerit points gave police a new tool in combating noisy vehicles – and one which should be taken seriously by drivers because of the potential to lose their licence.

Drivers who accumulated more than 100 demerit points within two years were disqualified from driving for three months.

The Noise Off lobby group was formed last year by Christchurch residents angered at excess vehicle noise in the city.

One of its founders, Richard Raymond, said the new legislation just gave officers "slightly sharper teeth to bite with".

Raymond said police ability to punish drivers of noisy cars was of little use at 3am as they hooned past houses in a storm of noise if no officer was around at the time.

An objective noise test in a warrant of fitness was needed to provide a fair and accurate system, he said.

Under this type of set-up car owners knew the level of noise allowed and did not pay for illegal exhaust modifications, while police had an impartial measurement to use.

The Government was considering such a system, like those in place for many countries including Australia, Raymond said.

Labour MP and Law and Order Select Committee chairman Martin Gallagher said he was considering introducing a private member's bill to further clamp down on drivers of noisy cars.

Gallagher said he would quiz senior police officials at the select committee's annual review in February about what further law changes were needed to address the problem.

"People ... all around the country are fed up with the noise made by lunatics who don't give a damn for other people, let alone road safety," Gallagher said.

The issue of "boom box culture", where young people modified their cars to create ultra noisy vehicles, easier access for youth to alcohol and cheap, high-performance Japanese import cars was a "toxic combination" often with fatal consequences, he said.












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