Robertson residents fuming over 'inaction' to stop car hoons

Up to 50 people lined the Illawarra Highway last Friday night, for what locals claim was an organised event where cars did illegal burnouts and raced each other.

Owner of the Robertson Pie Shop Will Bleeker told the Mercury it was like living in the middle of race track as it was happening every other month, but was "sick of calling the police because no-one comes".

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He said his neighbour, whose home filled with smoke and the suffocating smell of burnt rubber, rang authorities at least three times before police arrived.

Mr Bleeker said he couldn't approach the mob of up to 60 people either for fear of what they might do.

"You don't want to antagonise them too much because you don't know what they're doing to do," he said.

"We fear the damage that's done every time ... if they want to do it, go do it on a race track or something, don't do it where people have to live."

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Video of last week's event was uploaded to social media platform Tik Tok, by the user "Skids4DaKids4", whose Mr Drifter profile is filled with cars doing burnouts on suburban streets.

One of the videos from Robertson depicts people and cars lined up along the 80km/h zone of the Illawarra Highway, near the Jamberoo Mountain Road.

Thick smoke fills the air while sedans - including a white VR Commodore - drift in circles, while drone footage takes still shots of black figure-eights burnt into the bitumen.

A lone police car is also seen in the middle of the road, surrounded by plumes of smoke.

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Street racing and conducting burnouts are criminal offences, with sanctions such as licence and registration suspension, and fines into the thousands of dollars.

A spokewoman for NSW Police said numerous calls were received last Friday, with reports of several vehicles doing burnouts and sliding out on the dirt surface of the Pie Shop carpark.

She said multiple officers from Lake Illawarra and The Hume districts attended just before 11pm and issued a number of traffic penalties for burnout offences, emission offences and vehicle compliance.

One car was defected and grounded, and had to be towed from the location.

"Anyone who is caught doing burnouts or driving in a dangerous manner will face legal action including fines," the spokeswoman said.

"The aggravated burnout offence can apply to persons other than the driver. For example, a hoon driver's mate who willingly participates in, urges others to participate in, photographs or films to promote or organise hoon activity can also be charged with the offence and faces the same penalties."

Police are calling for anyone with information or footage of the incident to come forward.

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