Tech advances assist WA police in catching reckless drivers at staggering rate

Police have seized a car more than once every hour this year, as technological advancements enables them to catch more reckless drivers. Almost halfway through 2025, figures revealed under Parliamentary questioning by shadow police minister Adam Hort, showed 3455 vehicles have been seized from drivers for illegal activity. Of those, 447 were impounded for speeding at least 45km/h over the speed limit, while 302 were taken for reckless driving. Nearly 2500 drivers lost their car for failing to have a valid licence. Under the Government’s hoon laws, police have the power to seize vehicles for at least 28 days from people caught driving while under court-ordered or demerit point suspensions — or from hoons. A vehicle is only confiscated — and either crushed or sold after a third offence. So far this year, police have sold 116 cars and crushed 338. A further two have been repurposed. The Road Safety Commission used the two vehicles — a 2017 Maserati Quattroporte and a 2018 Mercedes CLE driven by the same man — to spread road safety awareness. As part of its election platform, Labor committed to increasing fines for reckless drivers, as well as rolling out more CCTV and noise technology to catch hoons in the act. A WA Police spokesperson said the force was committed to targeting offences over-represented in serious and fatal crashes — speeding, not wearing seatbelts, using mobile phones, driving under the influence and fatigue. “The selfish behaviour of hoon drivers unnecessarily endangers other road users and remains a priority for the Western Australia Police Force,” they said. “WA Police Force Road Policing Division has seen an increase in vehicle seizures associated with hoon driving. “This can be attributed to the improved use of technology to quickly identify locate and apprehend offenders, the coordinated effort of all agency resources to locate offenders, including airwing and intelligence analysts, and public assistance from calls for information.” WA’s road toll was 85 as of Sunday — the highest at this point if the year in more than a decade. WA Police Minister Reece Whitby said the message for hoons was simple, “behave irresponsibly behind the wheel, and you’ll lose your car.” “There are more police on the beat in Western Australian than ever before in history and the authorities will catch you,” he said. “Nitwits who repeatedly break the law to show off will have their cars destroyed. “Risky behaviour costs lives and this is confirmation there are tough consequences.”