Increased penalties for drivers who flee from the police are mainly a political stunt and will do little to prevent these crimes, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.

Dogandlemon.com editor Clive Matthew-Wilson, who is an outspoken road safety campaigner, says:

“The lawmakers are assuming that young people think before they flee from police. All the best evidence suggests the opposite. Most of these fleeing drivers are young idiots who don’t think before they do anything. If they were smart they wouldn’t flee from the police. The fact that they are fleeing from the police generally means they’re too reckless or stupid to realise the risks they are taking.”

“Aside from the fact that these drivers are generally uneducated, they’re also young, and the part of the brain that understands cause and effect doesn’t fully develop until early adulthood.”

Matthew-Wilson says the research is quite clear: “the threat of fines and disqualification do not reduce the risk of offending by the groups most likely to cause fatal crashes. Nor does the threat of losing their cars make much difference.”

Matthew-Wilson gave the example of the previous National Government, which passed the Vehicle Confiscation and Seizure Bill in 2009, allowing the cars of boy racers to be crushed. This law change earned former Police Minister Judith Collins the nickname "Crusher Collins”. And while the headline-grabbing law was widely praised, figures released from the the Ministry of Justice showed that just three vehicles were ever crushed, and one of these vehicles wasn’t actually the car used by the offender.

Matthew-Wilson adds: “There are now more young idiots offending than ever.”

Matthew-Wilson understands the frustration that the police and public feel about ram-raiders and other young criminals in cars.

“The police are under heavy pressure to be tough on crime, or, at least to appear to be tough on crime. The announced changes in police pursuit policies are undoubtedly at least partly in response to this pressure. There is also widespread resentment among frontline police officers. They hate having to let young yobbos give them the fingers then drive off in a cloud of tyre smoke.”

Matthew-Wilson supports the current police pursuit policy, saying it is based on solid science and has saved multiple lives.

“Obviously, something needs to be done about these offenders, but chasing them till they crash solves nothing and increases the risk to the fleeing drivers, police and public.”

• Clive Matthew-Wilson has been actively campaigning on road safety and consumer issues for 25 years. Mentored by engineer Chris Coxon (former technical chair and founding member of the Australian New Car Assessment Program – ANCAP), Matthew-Wilson was the first person to publish crash test results in New Zealand. His research into seatbelt upgrades was awarded by the Australian Police Journal. Matthew-Wilson is a strong supporter of pedestrians’ and cyclists’ rights and has helped shape many major road safety policies in New Zealand.

Clive Matthew-Wilson was the founder of constitution.org.nz

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