Inside Australia's Hooning Subculture: The Thrill, the Danger, and the Crackdown

This is honing. I've spent months inside this underground world to understand what hooning really is. There's absolutely no break. Imagine that's not very legal, is it? Ah, no, it's not. Who's behind it and why some are still willing to risk everything for the thrill. You go and pray for God you don't get caught. And more importantly, whether anything can be done to stop it. You might have heard of hooning, a subculture of car and motorbike enthusiasts, usually young men who gather in groups to drift, race, and do burnouts, often on public roads.

It happens across the country and has been around for decades, but it's getting bigger, louder, and more visible. Videos like this show hundreds turning up to street takeovers. It's illegal and dangerous, so governments across Australia are cracking down. some of the harshest laws are in Queensland where getting caught can mean thousands in fines, vehicle empowerment, or even jail time. And it can also be an offense to watch or film it. So, the governments and police are eager to crack down on this. But what's the real risk? Every year, around 1,200 people are killed on Australian roads, and tens of thousands more are injured.

Despite years of road safety campaigns, deaths are actually rising. In just one year, road deaths rose in six of the eight states and territories with Tasmania up by 20% and New South Wales by nearly 15%. Men account for the majority of the deaths. Hooning incidents are part of that picture. What's concerning is that it's not just drivers at risk. It's passengers, pedestrians, and bystanders who can be killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the laws and serious dangers, people still do it. I went to regional New South Wales where the council here in Cesno has been battling with hooning for generations. For our area, it's because we've sort of got a lower socioeconomic level around

Cesn LGA. People are probably more eager to go out and participate in hooning because it means they don't have to be at home. There's large sections of road here that aren't used as much anymore. And people are more than happy to come out here and blow a lot of rubber on the road and enjoy themselves. Straight off the tire. We're just on our way to meet Bailey who is a driver and he is going to tell us what's it like to be a hoon and be a part of the skid life. For many hoons like 23-year-old Bailey, it's not just reckless driving, it's a culture. He's been hooning since he was 17.

Probably if I didn't have the friends I have and the access to do burnouts, I probably still wouldn't be here. Wouldn't be here as in I probably would have taken my own life. Yeah. I've um get emotional about it. Um you know, I've I've seen a lot of stuff growing up and um it's pretty easy to turn to drugs as well. And um I feel like that's what a lot of other people do uh when they're in a similar situation to what I've been in. They go to drugs and stealing and um theft and whatever else. And then other people go down this route. But his dangerous hobby is getting him into all sorts of trouble with the law.

I went and purchased a car. I owned it for all of 10 minutes and I was doing a main roundabout. Got around the roundabout once and then I hear the sirens and that was the end of that. To avoid getting caught, many hoons will gather at night to drift and race in quieter industrial areas. We're just heading into the Hunter Economic Zone now. And this is a place where hoons regularly meet up to drift their cars and hang out. And we're just going to go talk to one of the drivers. Now I find it fun to watch, you know, entertaining, just like everyone else comes here for. Hearing the engine roar and doing burnouts just gives them a sense of peace.

This might seem safer than doing it on a busy street, but it's not. At this particular spot, multiple people have been seriously hurt. Just last year, a driver lost control while doing a burnout here and crashed into a crowd of people. Seven people injured, two of them children. Do you care about hurting others? 100% without a doubt. But at the end of the day, it's all a risk. You just got to pray it doesn't happen. After years of crackdowns, harsher laws, and police operations, Hooning hasn't gone anywhere, which begs the question, is this the right approach? After going through court once again and copying a longer license disqualification and a fine, Bailey still isn't deterred.

Is there anything that would get you to stop? I'll never stop doing burnouts and drifting and stuff. What would get me off of a public road is something built here. Like something built within a reasonable time frame from here. In parts of the country, those places do exist. Legal drift tracks, controlled environment, strict rules, and importantly, no crowds standing meters away. It really is about the environment being controlled as opposed to the driver. How old are you, Logan? 12. What do you like about drifting?

Just the enjoyment of this fun. Bit of a thrill. Yeah. But access is limited with most tracks based in major cities and they're expensive, leaving hoons from regional and remote areas in the dust. So is providing a safe alternative the answer? If we could have fixed this between all levels of government, it would have already been fixed. We can lead a horse to water, but we can't make it drink. It kind of sounds like what you're saying there is it's hopeless. No, it's not hopeless. Not at all. If we could stop one person from doing that, that's one person that has stopped doing that behavior. Governments are trying to

make roads safer, but are reluctant to consider a new approach. And if the risk is the thrill, controlling it might not fix it anyway. But it's a start because right now the danger isn't going away.