Legislation that enhances penalties for “hooning” — showboating featuring drivers who take over street intersections to perform smoke producing, tire spinning donuts called spinouts — is now the law of the land in Ohio.
>> EARLIER COVERAGE: Tougher penalties for drivers, spectators in newly passed anti-hooning bill
Gov. Mike DeWine, with Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr., former Montgomery County Sheriff and current state Rep. Phil Plummer and others in attendance, signed the anti-hooning/street racing bill into law Wednesday in Columbus.
News Center 7′s Mike Campbell, who has followed the bill through the legislature, reported last month that Law enforcement and prosecutors throughout Ohio now have more power to stop the dangerous driving because the law takes the offense from a simple traffic ticket to a first-degree misdemeanor to a felony.
Law enforcement can now ticket spectators.
Drivers who flee law enforcement now can be charged with a third-degree felony — which means possible jail time.