A driver decided to attempt a burnout on a street near Sydney, Australia, and probably felt like a pretty cool guy.
The car was an early 1970s Holden Monaro – a pricey collector’s item – and the proud driver apparently couldn’t resist showing off a few (illegal) tricks in the suburb of Arncliffe.
Keeping the retro car stationary, the driver spun the wheels. This caused a plume of smoke to billow from the vehicle, no doubt bringing a satisfied smile to the motorist’s face.
However, his Greased Lightning vibes were unfortunately short lived. While the rubber was still hot, the fuzz showed up; all ready to give this 21st century Fonzie a stern ticking off.
The incident was caught on camera by another driver, who couldn’t help but snicker at the sight of the police car turning up immediately after the burnout.
The clip quickly went viral and, at the time of writing, has been shared over 13,000 times on Facebook.
Many viewers have come forward with their own opinions on the driver, expressing laughter and annoyance in equal measure.
One hacked off car liker furiously commented:
There is a time and place for everything. That wasn’t the place or time. Gives the rest of us car enthusiasts a bad name. He deserves what he got.
However, others admired the reckless motorist’s illicit burnout skills, with one person nodding approvingly, ‘Good skid and nice crisp v8 sound. Legend’.
Burnouts are regarded as ‘hooning’ under Australian law, which refers to ‘any anti-social behaviour conducted in a motor vehicle—a car, van or motorbike—such as speeding, street racing, burnouts and playing loud music from a car stereo’.
Interestingly, the Aussie term can be also heard in the film, Mad Max, to refer to the bikers who are following Max’s family.
According to the Queensland Government website:
Penalties vary for different hooning offences. For example, driving in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke carries a maximum fine of 20 penalty units ($2611) while the most serious offences, such as careless driving—also known as driving without due care and attention—or street racing, carry a maximum fine of 40 penalty units ($5222) or 6 months in jail.
In addition, for specific offences classed as hooning—anti-social behaviour in a motor vehicle—police now have the power to impound, immobilise and confiscate the vehicle you were driving when you committed the offence.
According to the Victoria Police website, the laws were put in place to improve road safety:
Anti-hoon laws are about making roads safer and reducing road trauma.
They were introduced in Victoria in July 2006, and give police the power to impound, immobilise or permanently confiscate vehicles driven by people in a dangerous manner.
Hopefully this driver won’t run the risk of hooning again any time soon.
I imagine the potential sight of that beautiful car being confiscated will be more than enough to put him on the straight and narrow…
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.