Making our communities safer

For far too long residents of many of our towns and cities have had to put up with excessive noise, danger, and intimidation from boy racers.
High-powered cars and younger drivers have created a lethal combination on our roads.
A culture of dangerous driving has evolved, putting lives at risk.
It is a culture that has pushed some communities to the very edge of their tolerance limit.
In one case, a lone policeman was cornered by several hundred boy racers. His patrol car was pelted with bottles and peppered with pot-shots from an air rifle.
In another case, about 100 of these cowardly bullies trapped a lone aviation security guard in her car. She was left covered in shattered glass after the car windows were smashed.
Hospital patients have had to be moved from rooms overlooking the street because of a noise likened to squadrons of dive bombers circling the hospital.
Moteliers tell of losing tens of thousands of dollars because of rooms that can’t be used.
And then there is the road carnage – on average there are 10 deaths from illegal-street racing a year.
The National-led Government has moved quickly to show that this dangerous, disruptive, antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated.
Less than six months ago, we introduced two bills to strengthen the laws around illegal street racing and give police greater powers to deal with it. I was on the Select Committee that heard submissions into those bills.
Through public submissions you made it clear you wanted safer communities. This week we passed those two bills into law.
The Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Act allows councils to make by-laws to stop cars cruising the city and suburbs. This legislation significantly increases demerit points for illegal street-racing offences and closes loopholes which have allowed boy racers to get away with ignoring fines.
The Vehicle Confiscation and Seizure legislation introduces a suite of changes including the ultimate sanction of giving the courts the power to send cars driven by repeat offenders to the crusher.
Everyone has the right to feel safe in their homes, their streets, and their communities.
The boy racer laws are part of National’s package of law and order reforms to make our communities safer and to promote the security of law-abiding families.