John MacDonald: There is no finish line for boy and girl racers

When I heard on Friday morning that the cops had been out in force the night before cracking down on boy racers, I thought two things.

My first thought was ‘that’s great, I hope they do it again right through the weekend’. And the reason I thought that - and it was purely selfish - was because, with the kids home from uni, I knew a couple of them were planning to drive out to a party with mates on Saturday night.

At that point, I had it in my head that the party was up Kaiapoi-way, so I had visions of them shooting up the motorway on Saturday night.

Turns out I didn’t quite have my finger on the pulse and the party was in town. Either way, that was one of the things that went through my head when I heard the police had interrupted eight “skid Meets” - as they’re known - on Thursday night, involving more than 100 cars. Six in Christchurch. Two in Rolleston.

Three cars were impounded on Thursday night for sustained loss of traction. I think we can assume that’s official ‘police-speak’ for burn-outs.

Eighteen infringement notices were issued to drivers; two cars had green stickers stuck on them, which means there are compliance issues; and another car got a pink sticker - which meant it just shouldn't have been on the road, full stop. You get a pink sticker and your car’s going nowhere.

And it was all part of a nationwide blitz on the boy racers.

So, like I say, when I first heard about two things went through my head. I hope they keep doing it right through the long weekend. Which, it turns out, they did.

And the other thought I had, was that they - as in the Police - and “we”, are dreaming if we think a one-off sting on a long weekend is going to make any long-term difference. Because it’s not.

That didn’t stop acting Canterbury district commander police superintendent Lane Todd from doing a bit of the old chest thumping on the TV news last night.

In another report I’ve seen, the superintendent says: “Our staff did an excellent job identifying potential hotspots and consistently targeting participants in unsafe vehicles.”

No argument from me there. They didn't just do an excellent job - they did a brilliant job. And I reckon, because of it, the roads in Canterbury were much safer than usual over the weekend.

But, whether we like it or not, boy racers are here to stay. And, unless the police are going to do what they did at the weekend every weekend, or maybe even every night - then the success thry had at the weekend will just be a one-off.

I’ve had a gutsful of boy racers. We had that tragedy last September when an 18-year-old woman died after the car she was in crashed into the side of a house in Rangiora.

They’d been at an illegal street racing event and, when the police turned-up just before 5:45am, the driver took off and ended-up crashing.

The cops started following but gave up after a while because of the way the car was being driven and because they got into a built-up area. Not long after that, the driver lost control and crashed.

And, just weeks before that happened, there was all the fuss about boy racers causing mayhem for some of the animals at Orana Park. Because that stretch of road at McLeans Island is your boy racer’s idea of heaven.

And all the revving and screeching of tyres had some of the animals so freaked-out that they panicked and they ran around their enclosures and got injured.

But just because we’ve had a gutsful of boy racers. And just because the cops decide to do a surprise crackdown over one long weekend. It’s not going to make any long-term difference.

The only way the police could make any real difference, would be to do what they did at the weekend 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week. But that is never going to happen.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk Z'B.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
When I heard on Friday morning that the cops had
been out in force the night before, cracking down on
border races, I thought two things. Two things went through
my mind. My first thought was that's great. I hope
they do it again right through the weekend. And the
reason I thought that, and it was purely selfish, was
because with the kids home from university, I knew at
least a couple of them were planning to drive out

(00:35):
to a party with mates on Saturday night, and at
that point I had it in my head that the
party was up Kaiapoiway, so I had visions of them
shirting up in the motorway on Saturday night. It turns
out I didn't quite have my finger on the pass.
I might have been mixing up the rowing with the partying,
and the party was in town. Either way, either way,
it was still good. The cops were out wherever the

(00:58):
kids were driving, So that was one thing that went
through my head when I heard that on Thursday night
they interrupted eight skid meats, as their known, involving more
than one hundred cars, six and Rolliston to No. Six
and christ Church and two. In Roliston, three cars were
impounded on Thursday night for a sustained loss of traction.

(01:18):
I think we can assume that's official police speak for burnouts.
Eighteen infringement notices issue. Two cars got green stickers stuck
on them, which means there are compliance issues, and another
car got a pink sticker which meant it just should
not have been on the road full stop. On Thursday night.
You get a pink stick at your car's going nowhere
And this is all part of this nationwide blitz on

(01:40):
the boy races, well in the main centers. Anyway, that
was Thursday night. So like I say, when I first
heard about first heard about it, two things went through mehead.
I hope they do it right through the long weekend,
which turns out they did, by the way. And overall
in Canterbury, what about these for numbers. Overall twenty four
cars were impounded in Canterbury, seventy two were ordered off

(02:02):
the road and all up four hundred and thirty nine
infringement notices were issued. The other thing I thought was
that they as in the police and we police and
us we are dreaming if we think that one off
sting on a long weekend is going to make any

(02:23):
long term difference, because it's not that didn't stop acting
Canterbury District Command of Police Superintendent Lane Todd from doing
a bit of the old chest dumping. Chest dumping on
the TV news last night, and in another report I've
seen this morning, the superintendent says, quote our staff did
an excellent job identifying potential hotspots and consistently targeting participants

(02:44):
in unsafe vehicles. End of quote. No argument from me there.
In fact, Lane, you guys just didn't just do an
excellent job. That did a brilliant job, and I reckon
because of it. Undoubtedly the roads in Canterbury were much
safer than usual over the weekend. But and this is
underlined in capitals. But whether we like it or not,

(03:08):
I think boy racers are here to stay. And unless
the police are going to do what they did at
the weekend every weekend, in fact, no, no, Unless they're
going to do what they did at the weekend every
night twenty four seven, every day, every night twenty four
to seven, then the success they had at the weekend
will be just a one off. I mean, like you, well,

(03:30):
I'm assuming anyway, you might be a boy racer listener,
so you might not be like me, but I'll assume
like you. I've had a guts full of boy races.
We had that tragedy last September, remember this, when an
eighteen year old woman died after the car she was
then crashed into the side of the house in the
rungy order. And they've been at an illegal street racing event.
And when the police turned up just for a quarter

(03:51):
to five in the morning, the driver took off and
ended up crashing, and the cops had started following, but
they gave up after a while because of the way
the car was being driven and because they got into
a built up area. And not long after that, it
seems the drive lost control and crashed and the woman
who was one of the other people in the car,
she tragically died. And just weeks before that happened, remember

(04:12):
there was all the fuss about boy racers causing mayhem
for some of the animals at a run a park
because that stretch to ride at McLean's Island it is
boy race to Heaven and all the revling and screeching
of tires have had some of the animals so freaked
out that they've been panicking and running around and getting injured.
But just because we've had a guts ful of boy races,

(04:33):
and just because the cops decided to do a surprise
crackdown over one long weekend, it is not going to
make a difference. The only way, like I say, the
only way the police could make any real difference would
be to do what they did at the weekend twenty
four hours a day, seven days a week. But that
get with it. That is never gonna happen. And that

(04:54):
is why I think that yes, the cops did do
a brilliant job at the weekend here in Canterbury and
right around the country, and yes we've all had had
a guts ful of boy races. Whether we like it
or not, they are here to stay.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
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