Mayor rebuffs boy racer proposal

Invercargill's boy racers were unlikely to be allocated city sites to do burnouts and skids, drink alcohol and hang out with their mates, Mayor Tim Shadbolt said yesterday.

"Judging by the response of the public and councillors, I certainly don't think it's going to happen," the mayor said.

Although the boy racers were unlikely to get their wish, requested in a meeting with city leaders recently, Mr Shadbolt said he was confident an "amnesty" open day would still be arranged for their modified cars to be checked by approved mechanics.

The open day, which was being arranged by police, would be a good outcome from discussions held with the boy racers and talks would continue at an upcoming workshop, he said.

Mr Shadbolt said he wasn't against having a designated city site for boy racers to congregate – it had largely worked for the city's skateboarders – but he had reservations because negatives were attached.

He said if the council allocated a spot for boy racers and something "untoward" happened, the council would be liable, he was worried other groups would infiltrate the location and he had security concerns.

City leaders had held two meetings with the boy racers and had started to develop a relationship with them, he added.

"Boy racers aren't too bad. They cause a lot of nuisance and emotion but, according to police, the average boy racer is a male aged 20 to 25 without a criminal record, except traffic tickets, and hundreds of them."

They were not career criminals, rather they indulged in anti-social behaviour, he said.

"A lot of these people will end up being mechanics and welders and good citizens. I think what has made this fringe element in our society so lethal is the flooding of the market with cheap, high-performance Japanese cars ... in my day we didn't have those temptations because the cars were so slow."

The couple who instigated the initial meeting between the boy racers and city leaders, through Mr Shadbolt, were John and Jan Langeveld, the parents of 19-year-old Jesse Langeveld who drove a modified car that crashed into a wall in Invercargill in July, killing himself and two mates.

Mr and Mrs Langeveld, who last night declined to comment, said last week the youngsters felt police were picking on them and if they were given a designated spot in the city to park up, show off their cars and have a good time, they would be happy and police would be able to keep an eye on them.

Lumsden man Alan Blackmun said the Invercargill community built a burnout pad for boy racers at the city's stock car club about 25 years ago, but after about two months most of the boy racers stopped using it and drifted back into town.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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sigh   #2   05:44 pm Mar 18 2010

That burnout pad is in the middle of the speedway track and is only open after events held there. Not really readily accesible to anyone. BUild the drag strip at Teretonga thats been asked for for years and watch the problem disappear.

Vito   #1   05:01 pm Mar 18 2010

Well said Tim, I mean how many boy racers, how many rate payers. Its logic, the majority of the citizens must be listened to. Pity the council doesn't listen to our other wishes. At least we can have our say on these pages in the hope that the councilers read them.

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