A young mother-of-two is taking on car hoons and rev heads who are invading Bayside.
Heidi Douglas said Bayside residents are fed up with hoons revving engines, doing burnouts, drag racing and speeding through their suburbs.
She was prompted to launch the petition after she was almost killed by a speeding motorcyclist last month.
Ms Douglas has started a petition on communityrun.org calling on Bayside Council to work with St George Police to better enforce Road Rule 291, requiring drivers not to start a vehicle or drive in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke.
"I took my children to Brighton-Le-Sands on a Sunday and was overwhelmed at how noisy it was with car hoons revving engines and how inhospitable it was for families," she said.
"People were trying to dine outdoors, which is the right thing to do with COVID, and they couldn't hear themselves think," she said.
But the last straw for Ms Douglas was when she was almost hit by a motorcyclist four weeks ago.
"I was crossing West Botany Street, Rockdale when a motorcyclist went through a red light and almost killed me," she said.
"I was crossing with a a green pedestrian light and the motorcyclist turned through a red light, cut-off my path and almost wiped me out. It was the shock of my life. I felt I had to do something about this and started the petition.
"Shorttly after this,I was crossing Bay Street and I paused to check oncoming to see I was safe after the near-death experience with the motorbike. When I paused, two cars crossed in front of me almost hitting me and a family crossing from the other direction.
"Drivers are not taking notice of the road rules. Pedestrians are the losers."
And on a recent Thursday night at Banksia cars were doing burnouts on the Princes Highway.
"You wonder, where are the police and why aren't they enforcing the noise restrictions? "
Ms Douglas said she has had a huge response to her petition.
Comments from supporters include:
"The unceasing, unnecessary and unwelcome noise of rev head cars and ridiculously loud motorcycles. These people have do little to do so they race around our suburban streets in a careless and dangerous manner, disrupting my peace and quiet and peace of mind." -Suzanne K
"Horns blasting, screaming, burnouts, excess of 100km in a marked 50 zone and all done at all hours of the night." - Ashley T
"I have two small children, my youngest has a disability which makes her extremely fearful of loud noises. Every time a rev head car comes past our house she shakes and cries." - Siobhan C
"Hoons don't respect our traffic lights, they don't respect our speed zones and most importantly they don't respect the peace of those who live in the area." - Ali N
So far, Heidi has collected more than 500 signatures on her petition.
"I am hoping to get 1500 people to sign and then present it to the mayor and hopefully get the council to respond in the same way they did to last summer's petition to clean up the beaches," Heidi said.
Ms Douglas' petition says:
"Residents of Bayside Council are experiencing an increase in noise pollution from unnecessary revving of motor vehicles. This is causing discomfort and stress for community members who are trying to enjoy the Brighton Le Sands eating precinct, and for many residents who are losing sleep because of the noise pollution.
Road Rule 291 requires that a person must not start a vehicle or drive in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke. We support stronger policing of this road rule as well as the Bayside Council finding ways to nurture more peaceful streets in our area.
Why is this important?
Residents in the Bayside area are tired of the unnecessary revving and backfiring of motor vehicles, drag races, speeding and other dangerous vehicle activity.
It makes our streets unsafe for other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.
It creates noise pollution, making Brighton Le Sands shopping district unpleasant to be in, and negatively effects people's sleep in the area.
We want our community to be a peaceful and calm environment. We want the Bayside Council to work with St George Police to better enforce Road Rule 291, requiring that a person must not start a vehicle or drive in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke.
We also support the Council and Police exploring other options for reducing these ongoing disturbances."
Sign the petition at: https://www.communityrun.org/petitions/bayside-residents-for-peaceful-streets
