Hoon

Hoon is a derogatory term used in Australia and New Zealand to refer to a younger person who engages in loutish, anti-social behaviour. In particular, it is used to refer to one who drives in a manner which is anti-social by the standards of contemporary society, that is, fast, noisily or dangerously. While generally applied to automobiles and other road vehicles, anti-hooning legislation also targets hooning behavior wherever it occurs, including motor boats. Hoon activities can include speeding, burnouts, doughnuts or screeching tires.^[1] Those commonly identified as being involved in "hooning" or street racing are young, predominantly male although increasingly female drivers in the age range of 17 and 35 years.^[2]

Etymology

At the turn of the 20th century in Australia, the term "hoon" (and its rhyming slang version "silver spoon")^[3] had a different meaning: one who lived off immoral earnings (i.e. the proceeds of prostitution – a pimp or procurer of prostitutes).^[4]

Linguist Sid Baker in his book The Australian Language suggested that "hoon" (meaning "a fool") was a contraction of Houyhnhnm, a fictional race of intelligent horses which appears in Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.^[3][5]

Anti-hoon legislation in Australia

The term "hoon" has obtained a semi-official use in Australia, with police and governments referring to legislation targeting anti-social driving activity as "anti-hoon laws".

In Western Australia, the Road Traffic Amendment (Impounding and Confiscation of Vehicles) Bill 2004^[6], which was passed by the Parliament of Western Australia in June 2004, empowering the Western Australia Police to confiscate and impound vehicles found to be engaging in excessive speed or noise.^[7]

In the state of Victoria, hoon-related offences include burnouts, doughnuts, drag racing, repeated driving while disqualified and high-level speeding were added to Section 84C of the Road Safety Act 1986 in July 2006. Victoria Police have impounded an average of ten cars a day under the laws^[8], with over 5,000 vehicles confiscated and impounded two years after their introduction.^[9]

In Queensland, the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 allows members of the Queensland Police to impound the vehicles involved in proscribed offences.^[10] The laws relating to confiscation of vehicles for offences such as street racing, time trials and burnouts were strengthened in 2002. Further laws introduced in July 2008 provided for the confiscation of vehicles for repeat offenders involved with drunk driving, driving while suspended or driving with illegal modifications. Offenders can lose their vehicle for 48 hours for the first repeat offence, up to three months for a second repeat offence, or permanently for a third repeat offence. On 11 August 2008, a number of confiscated vehicles were auctioned by the government, The remainder were crushed and sold as scrap metal.^[11]

In New South Wales, the word "hoon" is actually contained in the name of the legislation: the Road Transport Legislation Amendment (Car Hoons) Act 2008 enacted in July 2008 introduced new measures against street racing and offences, and increased fines. Previous legislation provided for the vehicles of repeat offenders to be forfeited to the Crown, but the Car Hoons Act allowed the confiscated vehicles to be utilised for crash testing by the Roads and Traffic Authority, for educational and deterrence purposes as well as to test the effect of certain vehicle modification on the roadworthiness of the car.^[12]

See also

• Bogan

References