4 May 2021

Wanted: Police seek your footage of dangerous drivers

| Michael Weaver
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Hooning

If you have footage of dangerous driving, the police would like to hear from you. Photo: ACT Policing.

People who post incidences of hooning on social media can expect a knock on their door from ACT Policing as part of their crackdown on dangerous driving during May.

ACT Road Policing’s Detective Acting Superintendent Donna Hofmeier said while police are always focused on dangerous driving, they are now asking motorists who capture footage on their dashcams to report it to police via CrimeStoppers and not just post it online.

Detective Acting Superintendent Hofmeier said they may need to dedicate additional resources to deal with an expected influx of videos and photos from the public.

“We’ve had a number of incidents in just the past week that included failing to stop at intersections, excessive speeding, driving on the wrong side of the road and failing to stop for police,” she said.

“We are also examining some recent videos posted online of hoon behaviour, and over the next couple of weeks, some of the people shown breaking traffic laws can expect to receive infringement notices.

“Please let police know about dangerous driving behaviour when you witness it. If you have dashcam footage, you can provide that to us to assist in building a picture of a driver’s behaviour.

“On a lot of occasions, we will be able to act on the video and there will be occasions when people may need to give us a statement and attend court. People may be reticent to do that, but the only way we’re going to stop this is through education and accountability, so that’s one of our tactics this month,” she said.

Detective Acting Superintendent Hofmeier said police are constantly amazed at the number of motorists they see driving dangerously. Police will be deploying extra resources to known hotspots such as intersections where an average of more than 5500 infringements are issued by police and fixed cameras each year for running red lights.

“We’re hoping to be at a lot of the intersections, particularly around the red lights. I’m hoping that if you go through a red light, the next person you will see will be my members engaging you,” Detective Acting Superintendent Hofmeier said.

READ MORE High-speed crash on Tuggeranong Parkway claims life of 19-year-old

This follows the ACT’s fifth road fatality this year when a 19-year-old male died after losing control of a Holden Commodore on the Tuggeranong Parkway at about 10:30 pm on 27 April.

The driver, with three male passengers who sustained minor injuries, had earlier been detected driving dangerously in a number of Canberra suburbs. Police made several attempts to intercept the Commodore in numerous suburbs, but the driver failed to stop on each occasion.

On Monday (3 May), a 25-year-old disqualified driver faced court on numerous driving offences after motorists took evasive action to avoid colliding with a Holden on the incorrect side of the road at about 10:00 am at the intersection of Spofforth Street and Drake Brockman Drive in Holt.

It is alleged the car nearly collided with another vehicle before travelling up the gutter and onto a dirt path. Three people walking on the path had to jump from the path to avoid being struck by the Holden which returned to the roadway about 500 metres later and continued overtaking cars by moving to the incorrect side of the road.

READ MORE Police allege Commodore driver almost hit pedestrians and other cars in multiple suburbs

It is alleged the man had driven at high speeds through Hawker and a number of Scullin Streets before police activated emergency lights when the man failed to stop before turning on Chewings Street in Page.

The man was later arrested after a member of the public reported seeing the driver run towards Epenarra Close in Hawker. The man faced eight charges, including failing to stop for police, driving with a prescribed drug in oral fluid, driving while disqualified and dangerous driving.

Anyone with information about dangerous driving behaviour is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website.

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