A tragedy waiting to happen call to defeat beach hoons

Andrew Mathieson
A GROUP of young Geelong car enthusiasts could be the weapon this summer in the fight against hoon drivers on the city’s waterfront.
But Geelong MP and Eastern Beach resident Ian Trezise has warned that authorities must still remain vigilant to curb anti-social behaviour, which he feared would be on the rise again during summer.
Hoons have upset residents and visitors to Geelong’s most popular beach in recent years with dangerous driving, speeding, loitering and loud music.
Police were so concerned they turned to other law-abiding drivers who frequented Ritchie Boulevard’s popular strip and car park to put the hard word on the hoons.
Mr Trezise credited a decline in reported hoon incidents over the past few years to the waterfront watchdogs.
“It’s good to have them down there,” he said.
“They do talk to police and I have no doubt they still will now.
“A lot of them legitimately go down there with their cars and they add to the atmosphere.”
Mr Trezise, who is on State Government’s road safety committee, asked the Victorian parliament last week to “recognise” the problem on Geelong’s waterfront.
He called for Police Minister Bob Cameron to ensure Geelong officers launched “the appropriate action” in the lead-up to summer.
Mr Trezise said he was awaiting a response from Mr Cameron.
However, Mr Trezise intended to contact Geelong Police this week to “reiterate the importance of ensuring a stronger police presence” at Eastern Beach.
“I don’t want to be telling police how to run their responsibilities but, as a local member of parliament and a local resident, it is a concern to me,” Mr Trezise said.
Geelong’s council has also taken steps to cut down on hoon behaviour at Eastern Beach, including locking gates to a foreshore car park at a night, installing speed humps to control speed and beefing up by-laws enforcement.
Mr Trezise, who lives several hundred metres from Eastern Beach’s foreshore, said he had witnessed safety threats from hoons to pedestrians crossing the road.
“It is a lethal cocktail of young families with children and hoons in their hotted-up cars mixing together,” he said.
“It’s a tragedy waiting to happen.”