Bust Boy Racers - but do it right

Candor Trust

It's not just the smoke and roaring noise that goes on outside pimped up vehicles that is the problem with boy racers, say Candor Trust.

Calls by Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker to intervene in the boy racer problem are supported by the Trust. as toughening up on the streets ought to be part of broken window type policing, which offers huge hope to restore some respectful behaviour to the community.

Candor however disputes the usefulness of two of Mayor Parkers calls, and believes they are reactionary. Suspending drivers licences for unpaid fines is not likely to be beneficial to road safety or to cut back on the boy racer blight.

Those who drive without licences after suspension tend to exhibit even more dangerous driving, abuse alcohol and drugs more and be involved in more crashes than those whose behaviour is addressed in more sophisticated ways.

Lowering the allowable level of blood alcohol for drivers is also another road safety mis-step that is unlikely to have any impact on the boy racer problem. What needs to be addressed in parts of the boy racer culture is "hot-boxing". The practice of closing the windows and smoking up a storm of cannabis, till even the driver can't see or think beyond the haze.

Where else do they think a lot of the silly and non socially concerned behaviour of boy racers, also fuelled on testosterone and bravado - emanates from.

The fatality statistics tell us that it is not from alcohol, not among teenagers, as this is a very minor cause of fatal teen crashes (12% of deceased teen drivers were drunk). The same lack of association between the substance and current road toll harms can't be said about dopey drivers today (Police ESR report), as hordes of deceased Kiwi young ones had recently inhaled.

It's just not like in Bobs' days when booze reigned supreme - the roads of the noughties have a new King called herb. But Bob did get it right about raising the driving age, and the introduction of third party insurance should have occurred long ago.

So long as New Politicians who're road safety responsible keep behaving like castaways on Gilligans Island, happily out of time with International best practice, we'll experience more of the same.

ENDS

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