Inspectors follow the rules on boy-racer cars

Boy-racer cars may be obvious to anyone who uses the roads, but the regulations in place to ensure the safety and compliance of vehicles are not so widely known.
Masterton Vehicle Testing station vehicle inspector Neil Judd said there were several popular boy racer modifications that get close attention.
Any car that is lowered must have a clearance of 100mm from the lowest part of the vehicle to the road surface, he said. Cars that have platform adjustable suspension have to have a modification certificate.
Mr Judd said cars with tinted windows must have over 35 per cent bearable light transmission, which means the windows cannot be too dark or have mirror tinting.
There is not a specific decibel level cars have to conform to but cars can fail the inspection if exhausts are not in line with the original output standards of the vehicle.
It is up to the inspector's judgment to determine whether the noise levels are too high.
Mr Judd said Vehicle Testing fails only a few cars for noisy exhaust systems. The In-Service Certification manual states that to fail "the noise output has to be noticeably and significantly higher than it would have been when the vehicle was manufactured with its original exhaust".
Many boy racers lower their seats and can barely see over the steering wheels. Mr Judd says there are no specific guidelines on seat height, just as long as the driver can safely see over the steering wheel.
One of the other modifications on cars that can cause problems for boy racers is the overlay band at the top of windscreens that can only be 100mm in width.
Regulations also state a car engine cannot be more than 20 per cent more powerful than the original specification. This comes into play if someone fits a turbo to the original engine or replaces the engine for a more powerful one.
He said one method people have of getting around the testing process is by getting a legal warrant and then changing the car when they get home.
If a car gets pulled over by police and is found to be non-compliant the car gets "green stickered". The owner then has to take the car back to get tested to obtain a valid warrant.