A police operation targeting hooning and modified vehicles on the Sunshine Coast will ramp up this weekend.
Operation Suppress was launched on June 21 to detect and deter defective and modified vehicles, concentrating efforts on high density tourist zones, such as Mooloolaba and Alexandra Headland.
Police have been conducting a variety of enforcement and intelligence gathering activities to predominantly take action against vehicles that have been modified to be noisy.
An 18-year-old Palmview man whose driving was the subject of complaints has lost his licence following a string of offences.
Sunshine Coast Highway Patrol officer in charge Senior Sergeant Shane Panoho said Operation Suppress would increase this weekend.
“We have already seen some positive results in reducing the number of modified and defective noisy vehicles on the road, mostly from the Mooloolaba and Alexandra Headland area,” he said.
“However, in addition to proactive patrols and intercepts, we’re also targeting specific people that the community has reported to be driving cars that have been illegally modified.
“We have listened to the Sunshine Coast community’s concerns about how intimidating and disruptive noisy vehicles are, so we initiated Operation Suppress to address that.”
Police intercepted a Palmview 18-year-old at Dulong on July 13 after several complaints about his alleged dangerous driving and noisy vehicles.
Police issued him with a $258 traffic infringement notice for failing to display clearly legible green P plates and another $161 ticket or driving a defective vehicle.
These were on top of 10 TINS worth $2757 and 14 demerit points that he had received since January 24.
The teenager was also ordered to get his vehicle sound tested.
“Please know that if you have a noisy vehicle, we are increasing our efforts to target this specifically because our community has told us they do not accept this type of behaviour and nor do we,” Snr Sgt Panoho said.
“They are reporting your manner of driving via the hoon hotline on 134 666 and we will be following up with you.”
Police can direct drivers to have their vehicles sound-checked at authorised businesses to ensure their vehicles comply with appropriate Australian standards.
The Queensland Transport website lists businesses authorised to conduct proactive noise tests.
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