St John provides ambulance services for thousands of New Zealanders each year. File photo / Alan Gibson
St John will consider cutting ties with two of its "young leaders" whose high speed car racing could have ended in death.
The two 19-year-old volunteers were returning from a St John leadership development programme in Central Canterbury on Monday when their racing on McLeans Island Road, on
the outskirts of Christchurch, ended with a fiery crash.
One of the two suffered moderate injuries, and a car carrying a man and his six-year-old son had to swerve off the road to avoid one of the two cars that had spun out of control.
The car the man avoided crashed into a tree and burst into flame as the teenager got himself free.
Ironically, both teenagers were taken away to be checked out by St John Ambulance.
"St John is disappointed, I'm personally disappointed," said St John national youth director Michael Brooke.
"It certainly appears from what I have heard these people have made a bad error of judgement."
"Everything we do is for the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders, that's what we are there for, and so when something like this happens it doesn't sit right."
Mr Brooke said an internal investigation would look at what happened "and whether it has an effect on them being involved in St John".
"There a whole range of things that could come out of that investigation. I suppose one option of any internal investigation is (the pair being expelled from St John)."
Inspector Derek Erasmus, of the Christchurch police, said a decision had yet to be made on charges against the pair.
It is believed the pair were racing at speeds as high as 140km/h.
One of the two cars had been seized, while the other was worthless after bursting into flames, Mr Erasmus said.
The teenagers had been through the St John youth programme and stayed on as leaders that helped run the programme.
The pair "were not bad kids", Mr Brooke said.
"These people have just given up their whole Easter to help people. A lot of people would look at 19-year-olds who might be involved in a similar incident and not even think that they would actually be volunteering their time as young adults to that level, which is quite a level of maturity."
"And then they do something like this which suggests quite a level of immaturity. Young people do make bad calls."
