Commodore SS 'Hooning' car filmed in gender reveal destroyed on steps of Queensland parliament

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A car used for "hooning" at a gender reveal party has been destroyed at the steps of Queensland's Parliament House.

Police released dash-camera footage of the red Holden Commodore VP doing a burnout on a street in Marsden, south of Brisbane, in September last year, and appealed to the public for information.

The burnout sent up a thick plume of blue smoke into the air.

Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Ben Marcus said the driver of the car had put blue-coloured tyres on the vehicle to reveal the gender of a baby.

"The burnout was so significant that you couldn't see the road in any direction for about 100 metres," Assistant Commissioner Marcus said outside parliament on Wednesday.

"That driver was jailed. The vehicle was confiscated and today we are going to cut it up in front of you."

Police Minister Mark Ryan said along with the prison sentence, the driver was also disqualified from driving for four years "for committing a life-endangering offence with his car".

Firefighters dismantled the vehicle to mark the introduction of new anti-hooning laws.
The demonstration of the car's dismantling was part of the government's reveal of new dangerous driving laws.

The new legislation means any motorist who is found guilty of hooning-related offences could have their car destroyed.

Mr Ryan said the new legislation would extend to "willing participants" and organisers of hooning activities and events.

"A willing participant in the hooning activity or an organiser of the event, and that will be punishable by up to 40 penalty units, which is almost $6,000 or up to one year in prison," the police minister said.

Someone in possession of items with the intention to be used at assist a hooning event, such as fake number plates, hydraulic jacks, and spare wheels, could also face punishment.

"That offence will carry with it and up to one-year imprisonment for up to 40 penalty units," he said.

Mr Ryan said the new laws were designed to keep the community safe.

"Those people who intentionally endanger their lives, the lives of their passengers and other road users by choosing to engage in illegal, stupid behaviour," he said.

Police said despite fewer people hooning, some offenders are going to "great lengths" to avoid being caught.

"The legislation that we have asked our government for will greatly assist us with the people that do everything they can to avoid being caught in their endeavours," Assistant Commissioner Marcus said.

Confiscated cars will be repurposed

Assistant Commissioner Marcus said cars confiscated by police would be used to help train firefighters.

He said the car that was dismantled was "a desirable car if you are in the hooning community but it is a type of car that if we were to simply sell it to recover the towing fees, [it] would simply be bought by another person to be used for hooning activities".

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Greg Leach said the cars would help familiarise firefighters with different types of vehicles.

"Firefighters attend thousands of road crash incidents each year, with many of those requiring the use of specialist cutting equipment to free people," he said.

"While firefighters expand their knowledge with every incident they attend, our crews would much rather practise their skills on a vehicle in a simulated and controlled scenario than on the road in real life."

article + video:
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101716290