Boy racers: the law is adequate - 21/05/2007In the wake of further controversy over boy racers and their often illegal activities, Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws has defended the boy racer legislation introduced in 2003, saying that "the legislation isn't the problem but the enforcement is".
"Every provincial city and town has experienced the anti-social behaviour of boy racers and Wanganui is no exception. My frustration is that the traffic police are conspicuously absent in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings when most of these offences occur. They plague residents of the Manawatu-Wanganui during normal daylight hours but seem to absent themselves at the first hint of boy racer activities.
"There's no point passing legislation if you're not going to enforce it and the attitudes of both the police and the courts has a lot to do with the current problem. Boy racers know that if they do get caught the consequences are likely to be minor despite a clear direction from Parliament that cars can be confiscated and heavy fines imposed."
Mr Laws said that he would like traffic police to give greater priority to boy racers instead of their perceived revenue gathering for minor speeding offences. |
