By Dominic Giannini in Canberra
Moronic drivers with an IQ of a shoe size have been blamed by police for bad behaviour at Summernats.
Intelligence checks rather than vehicle inspections at the ACT border ahead of Summernats would have halved the problems police faced, said one officer, who branded some drivers “morons” and Neanderthals.
ACT Policing seized 13 cars, including a Holden Commodore for doing a burnout metres from pedestrians.
The 22-year-old behind the wheel was suspended for driving in the territory for three months.
Two children and two adult passengers were also in the car during the manoeuvre, police said.
He is expected to be charged with dangerous driving, driving an unsafely maintained vehicle, plates not properly issued, running a red light and speeding.
Two people were also arrested on Saturday for anti-social behaviour.
“If we set up an IQ-testing station at the border instead of a vehicle-testing station we’d halve our problems,” Acting Inspector Mark Richardson told reporters on Monday.
“The real car enthusiasts are not the problem, it’s the moron tourism.”
Police were running around playing “Whac-A-Mole” across Canberra with “a sub-species of the human race” as they did illegal burnouts and engaged in anti-social behaviour.
“It’s not the people that are going there to enjoy the event, it’s the people that go there just to do anti-social behaviour,” he said.
“They just literally come down here to see, ‘how big of a pest can I be this week?’.
“The behaviour of these drivers, they just haven’t evolved very far.”
Residents also expressed disdain at loud burnouts and revs along Canberra’s main road as well as the incorrect use of electric scooters, including people doing donuts in crowded public places.
Police are also investigating footage of a fight posted to social media.
“The footage that we saw was quite disturbing,” Acting Superintendent Rod Anderson said.
Rocks and bottles had been thrown at officers inside and outside the event, he said.
An extra 100 officers were on duty on each day of the event.
Summernats 36 was held from Thursday to Sunday.
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