Boy Racers
From:
Karen Gorton
Date:
Mar 13 22:03 UTC
Short link
hello there,
I am a mother of two teenage boys 20 and 22 obviously they are both into their
cars. The fact is the problem at present is that with new laws being
introduced frequently parents are at their witts end as they cannot control
their children. I on the other hand have had control of my children from the
start but this does not stop them being pulled over by the police randomoly and
getting issued with speeding tickets for uneccessary excelleration etc...
instant loss of license for 6 moths. Good you would say. I agree if indeed
the boy racers are doing this. In our cases we did fight back with lawyers as
the boys were adament that they did not race. We even hired someone to measure
the road distance etc.. and had the police come and drive my sons 1600 Subaru
with a dying engine to test the speed 3 times at the back of Burnham camp, they
even stated that the car could not have got up to the speed that was issued on
the night at such a short distance. Still the officer who booked my son stated
he wanted another notch on his belt before he left the force. And we all no
Police have the last say.my son he lost his license. We have now resorted to
putting a tracking and speeding devise in their cars as we are sick of
receiving infringement notices with fines such as excesive noise, in an area
they do not go, speeding, failing to stop at lights etc. We have reeived so
far some infrigement notices sent through the mail sice having the devises
fitted and could prove that the son in question was not in that area and infact
the car was parked in the garage or outside his work. These devises are
monitored by Navman/Telecom Satalites and we pay $76.00 a month but it has
proved to be well worth it. Getting back to the issue of boys racing. Do you
think that the police are agrivaiting the situation a little. A majority of
the police are leaving serious cases and sitting in their unmarked cars pulling
up young drivers, not middle aged etc and almost always issuing them with
tickets. I sat on Bealey Avenue one night watching the antics out of the
police. The new trend now is "You are not wearing your seat belt OR it is not
accross your shoulder properly " $150 instant fine Come on! You do not know the
full story of how the youth are getting harased. This is just another way of
getting revenew. Local bodies should consider what the young people in
Christchurch want as well. It is their city and they are getting pushed form
pillar to post. They deserve to have a voice. There is a huge problem with
racing and drinking but it has always been there just it has been higlighted in
the media more over the past two years. When you were young did you ever get in
a car and drink and drive? Or did you every exceed the recommended speed limit?
I do think that to get around this problem is 1. Bring back the traffic police
who understand the nechanics of cars, they were friendly and fair for all and
knew what they were talking about when they pulled you up, or at least hire
more police with mechanical qualifications, this could possibly eleminiate the
unecessary issuing of fines to the youth which I do feel is contributing to the
retaliation at present.
Secondly, involve the youth in decision making. Ask them what they would like
to see happen over this problem. GET THEM INVOLVED. Thirdly, open Rapuna or for
them to use again, after all it is a speedway track. I do understand that this
was trailed but shut down due to the residents in that area kicking up a fuss
on noise. Again the boy racers have been penalised. They are not allowed to
gather in town as they used to in Big Fresh car park, they are not allowed to
drive up the hills, what is this city comming too?
I do think that this age of youth are being cornered like rats, there is not
much for them to do it is a void age. NOISE - well I do believe the noise
situation is out of control, but I think that by introducing new laws to reduce
the decibels from 95 to 90 will not achieve the results that are hoped for.
The boy racers not bogins dont care about noise, it is about showmanship, as
long as they have the big bore exhausts (silencers fitted)then they would be
fine with that. Reduce the decibels to 75 I say. I dont think that this will
happen, why you say? Because in order for this to happen can you image the
backlash of loss of revenew! for the Governement a) Companies who only sell
performance parts for cars would loose out,possibly go bust; imported cars
would decrease and the best of all the manufacturers of performance cars would
loose profits as this age of youth are the biggest buyers of perfromance cars
ooch! My concern is that these young people are the future of our economy and
if a solution is not agreed on shortly it will have a huge impact on our city
in the future. I am sure that everyone will agree that these youths under
normal curcumstances are good people and as I have said before if you are
cornered with no were to go you begin to retaliate. Instead of issuing fines
willy nilly, monitor this process more, if infact a racer boy is caught
speeding without doubt then introduce them to community work such as working in
A&E or Burwood spinal ward, or along side the Serious Crash Unit, this will
hurt more than a fine or loss of license. Introduce a defensive driving course
which is hands on not just theory work.
My final note is- Three weeks ago we were standing on Main North Road traffic
at this time was medium, lots of pedestrians, when a black car which came
squeeling and speeding excessive of a speed of 100K, in a 50K zone went through
a red light intersection What was it you ask, an unmarked police car, he did
not slow down at the intersection, he would not have been able to brake safely
if there was a need too; the flashing lights which were in the front grill
were not clearly visable from our angle of the road, and to me that seemed more
ridiculous than any Boy racer I have ever witnessed. Is this policeman above
the law? This was a potential hazard to all on-comming traffic and
pedestrians at the itersection. I am willing to discuss and be part of any
team to assist both parties fairly in comming to an amicable agreement or
solution, have a good and safe day to everyone.