Essex St residents say enough?s enough

Essex Street residents are sick and tired of their street being used as a racetrack by teenagers who can't control their vehicles.
They spoke out after a three car crash on the street on Saturday that resulted in extensive damage to all three vehicles. An elderly man narrowly escaped being hit by one of the speeding vehicles driven by a young man who had been racing his friend a long the street.
A Masterton man whose mother-in-law lives on Essex Street, Peter Hunt, said it was only matter of time before someone is killed by reckless kids in cars.
"With people on the road travelling phenomenal speeds, I'm surprised there haven't been more children killed. I reckon there are many parents of pre-school children who are terrified of leaving the gate open in case the child gets out," he said.
Another Essex Street resident, who heard Saturday's crash, said the neighbours are angry over what happened.
"I was just about to sit down and I heard the screeching and then an amazing explosion. I was furious, ? they have been screaming up and down here for years, and nobody's done anything about it," said the woman, a former dental nurse.
"What's wrong with the discipline of these kids ? did their parents not know where they were?"
She was not sure of how the problem should be dealt with, but like other concerned residents she had a few suggestions. "Do you have judder bars, do you have lights or cameras? I don't know."
She said Essex Street had become a problem parking area not just due to speeding cars but also because of vandalism and thefts.
"You can't park in Essex Street because it's either broken into or dangerous for the cars to be parked there. Now everyone parks in driveways off the road."
Her daughter, who is her early twenties, suggested reasons for Essex Street's vulnerability to high-speed young drivers.
"They pick up people in Renall Street and then turn in from Chapel Street because they know cops don't come down here. It's Essex, Cole, and Perry streets where they just go for it."
Her answer to the problem is random speed cameras, even though she herself admits having driven fast along the street.
"They should put random speed cameras in these streets. That's the only was they are going to catch them. I have gone fast down there, I admit it."
Another two residents of the street, both former teachers who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals from former students, live 50m along the street from where the three-car crash happened and said they often see vehicles speeding past.
"We've been living here long enough to be very aware of the cars. We've had two cats killed on that road," one of them said.
She said she cycles up and down the road three to four times a day and she has to be careful of the speeding motorists.
"Frequently I see vehicles that I judge to be going too fast."
She suggested speed bumps as a deterrent to fast driving.
"We realise that police can't be everywhere at once. I would like to see speed bumps and some of the neighbours seem to think surveillance cameras would work."
Her husband said part of the reason for the abundance of reckless young drivers on the road was because times have changed and young people find it easier to get a car. He said parents must take some of the responsibility for their children, and also suggested raising the minimum age for driving.
"It's easier for them to have access to cars at a time when they don't have the maturity to be responsible for the consequences of their actions. It's always been there, there's just more opportunity now," he said.
Acting head of traffic policing in Wairarapa, Sergeant Bruce Farley, said the situation in the Essex Street area is similar to many other streets and the police use a three-pronged approach in dealing with speed related offences.
This concentrates on education, engineering and enforcement.
"We are trying to educate young drivers to drive responsibly and be aware of the dangers of speeding," Mr Farley said.
He said that in many places such as Essex Street, speed bumps are not practical because of the design of the streets.
"I don't think that is a road that would be suitable for speed bumps to be deployed. They are only for very small streets with very slow speeds," he says.
He says although speed cameras were more practical in catching offenders, resources had to be spread over the whole district.
He said police would always respond to reports of inappropriate behaviour on the roads and it is helpful if witnesses are able to get details of offenders' vehicles.
"We are committed to following up complaints from the public. We live in a very small community and not many things get past us if we have adequate information," Mr Farley said.