Harmful driving on the rise in Victoria regardless of hoon crackdown

Victoria Police has introduced as a part of its newest Crime Statistics Company knowledge launch that its “concentrated effort” on hoon drivers has proved “nice outcomes” regardless of a rising variety of harmful driving offences.

Often known as Operation Achilles, this operation commenced in February 2021 to scale back the hurt attributable to hoon driving.

Because it began, Victoria Police has charged greater than 360 hoon drivers with virtually 3000 offences and impounded 375 autos linked to intentional high-risk driving.

In keeping with police intelligence, this excessive stage of enforcement has led to a 75 per cent lower in organised hoon meets.

Throughout 2022 there was a big improve in harmful driving offences, up 20.6 per cent over 2021 and 44.4 per cent up from 2019.

Victoria Police claims that is attributable to the “proactive focus” on highway security all through final yr and can also be linked to different types of offending, resembling theft of motor autos.

Talking of automobile thefts, they elevated year-on-year by 6.2 per cent, although there’ll nonetheless 3756 fewer vehicles stolen than 2019.

Carjacking offences additionally slumped to their lowest stage because the offence was launched in December 2016. There have been 243 carjacking in Victoria final yr, down from 319 in 2021.

“Whereas prison offending elevated barely from 2021, it is extremely pleasing that total crime continues to be virtually 10 per cent beneath pre-pandemic ranges,” stated Victoria Police deputy commissioner regional operations Rick Nugent.

“These traits are in keeping with our expectations based mostly on the intelligence accessible to us, which signifies
that crime as an entire has not dramatically ‘snapped again’ to pre-COVID ranges.”

“Over the approaching yr, police will proceed to deal with proactive prevention and enforcement to make sure that
the group is just not solely protected, but in addition feels protected of their properties, in public and on the roads,” he added.