Doing burnouts is a fun, yet illegal activity if performed on public roads. In Perth, Australia a man was caught doing burnouts and some pathetic drifting on a public road by a police helicopter outfitted with thermal imaging. Just when you think you're in the clear and it's okay to "light'm up", a helicopter pops out of the blue and records your antics via thermal imaging. If this isn't a waste of tax dollars, then I don't know what is. Will the minimal fines and ticket issuance even cover a fraction of the fuel used in the chopper to land this villain? I highly doubt it. Even though it's a little abusive, it's still cool to watch!
Australia police are known for being hard up on street racers and drifters alike. In a previous article, Victoria police from Australia
crushed what is known as a "hoon" car after catching the guy street racing on multiple occasions. Now they're using IR imaging systems and helicopters to catch people doing burnouts, and stopping to take a leak on the side of the road (see video @ 3:20). Where is the line drawn? Is it really necessary to use a $100,000 police helicopter, $50,000 thermal imaging system, and thousands of dollars worth of aviation fuel to bust some dude just doing burnouts on a vacant road?
I can understand the justification of using the chopper if a mass murderer escapes prison, flees from police, etc. Really though, this guy wasn't putting anyone else in harm but himself. If you watch the clip, when he approaches intersections with other vehicles he slows down to make sure no one is hurt. This guy isn't a criminal, he's just some dude out with his buddies having fun and roasting some tires in his old junker. By the looks of the vehicle, I highly doubt that thing can even reach speeds to be considered a public danger. It looks like one of those old clunkers that barely runs but can still light'm up. In reality, the police speeding to catch up with this criminal of public nuisance created more danger than they're preventing!
Video content: caught doing burnouts and drifting by police helicopter
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Source:
Tampa Sports Car Examiner
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