Ministers Chris Bishop and Mark Mitchell announced new offences and penalties in Rotorua on Sunday, with Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell. Video / Kelly Makiha
Drivers who participate in street races will have their vehicles destroyed or forfeited in the majority of cases under new legislation announced by the Government today.
On Sunday, Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the current penalties “aren’t strong enough to deter this appalling behaviour”. He said police reporting found the frequency of anti-social road events was increasing and “enough is enough”.
“Kiwis are sick of seeing these idiot drivers putting everyone around them at risk, so we’re taking action through a range of much tougher penalties,” Bishop said.
The changes, which are expected to be introduced in Parliament in the middle of the year, include establishing a presumptive sentence of vehicle destruction or forfeiture for those who flee police, for street racers, those in intimidating convoys and for owners who fail to identify offending drivers.
Bishop said this change meant convicted fleeing drivers, boy racers and people participating in intimidating convoys will have their vehicle destroyed or forfeited.
“The legislation will establish a presumptive court-ordered sentence of vehicle forfeiture or destruction. This means that if someone is convicted of these offences, courts must order that vehicle be destroyed or forfeited to the Crown to be sold,” he said.
“There will be some limited exceptions where the vehicle is owned by someone other than the offender, or if it would be manifestly unjust or cause extreme or undue hardship to do so.”
Transport Minister Chris Bishop (from left), Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell and Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Photo / Kelly Makiha
The current legislation, introduced in 2009 by the then Police Minister Judith Collins, allows for cars to be confiscated and destroyed, but only after a third illegal street racing offence had been committed.
Anti-social road users are those who fail to stop for police while speeding or driving dangerously, participate in unauthorised street racing, do burnouts, carry out intimidating convoys and unlawful dirt bike gatherings or cause excessive noise by taking part in siren battles.
There is an existing offence for a vehicle owner not immediately providing information about a driver who used a vehicle to flee. But this will now be expanded to apply to those participating in street racing, doing burnouts or taking part in intimidating convoys. They can be penalised by the court with a fine not exceeding $10,000.
Bishop said police have told the Government there is “no incentive” for people to identify who is actually driving the vehicles.
“They either lie or they refuse to participate. Pretty canny, some of these guys, they know exactly what the law says. So we are strengthening that.”
Chris Bishop (centre) took over as Transport Minister from Simeon Brown (left) earlier this year. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Mitchell on Sunday also announced police would be given more powers to manage illegal vehicle gatherings by closing roads or public areas. They will also be able to issue infringements to those who fail without a reasonable excuse to comply with a direction to leave or not enter a closed area.
The police-issued fine for people intentionally creating excessive noise from within or on a vehicle will be increased from $50 to $300, while the court-ordered fine will jump from $1000 to $3000.
“People have had enough of boy racers and their dangerous, obnoxious behaviour. These people drive without regard for the danger and disruption it causes to our communities. They have no consideration for anyone other than themselves,” Mitchell said.
“Anti-social road use and illegal street racing have no place in New Zealand. Our message is clear: if you want [to] drive dangerously, face the consequences.”
But Labour’s Ginny Andersen said the announcement on Sunday was a “distraction”.
“The National Government have had more success in crushing the rights of working women than they have ever done crushing boy racers’ cars,” she said.
Andersen is referencing the Government’s recent changes to the pay equity scheme, which lifts the threshold for claims. The Government has defended its move, saying there were workability issues with the regime and it supports pay equity.
“The best way to get on top of boy racers is consistent, good, local policing where police know who the offenders are and they repeatedly target them. The ability to do this now is in resourcing the front line to be be able to take that work on each day.”
The Labour MP also said boy racers’ cars may not be crushed due to the fact they are often registered under someone else’s name and it would unfair to destroy them.
“It sounds like they’re gonna do all this tough stuff but when it really comes down to taking it off the people who are committing the offences, there’s no connection there.”
Labour police spokeswoman Ginny Andersen called the announcement a "distraction". Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Government promised at the start of the year that Cabinet would make decisions on legislation to crack down on street racing “and other anti-social road usage” during the first quarter of the year.
There have been numerous boy-racer events over the past year that have caught the Police Minister’s attention.
In June, after an event in Levin where more than 200 cars gathered and two police officers were pelted with rocks and bottles when they tried to intervene, Mitchell said he wanted to be able to “seize the vehicles and keep them”.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell has been promising new legislation for the past year. Photo / Marty Melville.
As the Herald reported in December, he was unable to progress legislation last year, despite previously saying he had hoped to do so. The minister put that down to what he considered was a “very complicated policy process” that was “probably more complex than we anticipated”.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB at the time, Mitchell said he wanted to “start taking these boy racers’ cars and bikes and start crushing them”.
“He did say he would get 500 police officers by the end of November, and then the commissioner said, no, he’s not. Then he’s trying to gaslight everybody by saying, no, we are on the same page,” Andersen said.
“I wonder whether he is going to do the same thing with the boy racers. It does seem like a bit of a pattern with Mark, that he promises big stuff and doesn’t manage to deliver.”
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.
