Victorian grandpa almost killed by hoon as reckless driving surges during COVID-19 lockdown

The coronavirus lockdown has been fueling a rise in risk-taking on our roads, with hoons endangering lives for the sake of internet fame.

Victorian grandfather Frank was almost killed last Thursday after a "Bogan Edition" Commodore flew just inches away from him after the driver lost control.

"I heard the biggest and loudest explosion that I've heard in my 74 years of life, bang! And I fell down," Frank told A Current Affair.

"One foot, that wide, and I would've been dead."

According to police, the 34-year-old driver told them his car skidded in a puddle of water.

Officers say he was trying to rip a burnout.

"My wife was saying, 'you kill my husband!' 'where's my husband?' and he [driver] goes 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'

"She thought I was under the car," Frank said.

"My wife at the end said 'I'm sorry' to the men and the policeman said don't be sorry for them. 

"They told me this is not the first time there is driving like that, he's a hoon, does burnouts everywhere and has been caught a few times endangering people's life on the road," Frank added.

"It's completely irresponsible, it's illegal and it's highly risky," Russell White, founder of the Australian Road Safety Foundation, told A Current Affair.

He was appalled by the footage A Current Affair showed him of hoon's reckless antics, turning suburban streets into race tracks.

"It doesn't take very much intelligence to press an accelerator pedal and certainly that's displayed on those videos," Mr White said.

Mr White pointed out there are controlled spaces for people to do things like burnouts and other risky activities.  

"A public road, a public area, an area where you've got vulnerable road users literally metres from that vehicle, is potentially catastrophic," he said.

"I could guarantee if something bad happened, they would do anything to reverse that situation," Mr White added.