Boy-racer law welcome

By SHANNON GILLIES | 2nd December 2009

New street racing laws have been welcomed locally.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce and Police Minister Judith Collins are the faces of two new laws giving police, courts and local authorities powers to deal with illegal street racing that came into force in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The Land Transport, Enforcement Powers, Amendment Act and the Sentencing, Vehicle Confiscation, Amendment Act, will mean offenders will lose their licences and their vehicles much sooner.

Napier Inner City Marketing board member Graham Bell welcomed the new laws.

"If council have got power, council really have to have the muscle to back it up," Mr Bell said.

 "Council might be a little soft and I would urge them to deal with it appropriately."

There should be a zero tolerance approach to illegal street racers in Napier's central business district, he said, and anyone who heard the activity should report it to police straight away. "That's going to be the only way to eliminate it," he said.

 "From a Napier perspective, being a visitor destination and centre of the community as it is, we don't want a few hoons spoiling it for the majority of people."

Boy racers were a menace, Mr Bell said.

Onekawa-Tamatea Residents and Ratepayers Association spokesman Brian Duggan said crushing vehicles might anger the owners more than stop them. "It could aggravate the situation," Mr Duggan said.

Young men who like racing will not go away and society needed to recognise that, he said.

"They need somewhere to race. You need to be able to encourage them away from suburbs. Coming down with a sledgehammer on those guys will probably aggravate them so we should be looking at ways to accommodate."

Hawke's Bay based Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar backed the law changes. "We are supportive and congratulate the ministers on having the backbone to do what needed to be done," Mr Mc Vicar said.

"I think the crushing law is the ultimate deterrent."