More than 70,000 unauthorised street and drag races have been reported to police nationally in the past five-and-a-half years - with 7053 of those happening in the Bay of Plenty alone.
The new figures, provided by the police minister, come as mothers of two teens injured at an illegal car meet and a motorsport legend call for “harsher” penalties for street racers.
At a street racing event near TECT Park in Tauranga last month, one teenager suffered broken bones and leg lacerations after a ute doing donuts smashed into bystanders, while another said the last thing she remembered from the event was “being hit by the back of the truck”.
A mother also spoke about rushing her daughter who was “struggling to breathe” to the hospital that same night, but their route was blocked by street racers having a car meet.
On Monday, former professional racing driver and road safety advocate Greg Murphy told Heather Du Plessis-Allan on Newstalk ZB he wanted tougher laws on street racing.
Murphy said the racers used social media to plan events and listen to police scanners. He said the street racers knew the rules but the “thrill” was seeing what they could get away with.
“And it’s happening all over the place. And unless we come up with regulations, rules, penalties that are going to actually stop them from doing it - it’s just only going to grow.
“They know for a fact that the laws actually are on their side because If they do get caught, the penalties for that are so light and so minor that it’s all actually a bit of a laugh.”
The mother of a teen injured at the street racer event near TECT Park, who spoke on the condition neither were named, said she “absolutely” agreed with Murphy’s comments.
“There’s got to be some sort of deterrent to stop them going as far as they’re going.”
The mother said she grew up with brothers who were street racers, “but they never had the mindset of the boy racers today”.
She said her brothers raced at Meremere Dragway in Hampton Downs and were “away from people”.
“They were quite conscious of people’s safety ... they were about having fun, having fast cars and proving that, but they were never about hurting anyone.
“There’s something that’s changed in today’s world where they think it’s okay to pretend to, or nearly, or hit someone. And that’s a real issue.”
The mother said penalties needed to be “a lot harsher”.
“I am so disappointed that nothing’s been done so far. Because there’s no deterrent.”
A mother of a second teen injured at the event, who also spoke on the condition she was not named, “totally” agreed with Murphy’s calls for tougher penalties.
Prior to the incident, “I didn’t have any worries about them [street racers].
“But now that it’s escalating and becoming nationwide with boy racers being everywhere and in every town, I believe there should be higher penalties for them.”
She understood street racer events had been getting more dangerous in Tauranga in the past two years and understood they wanted a place where they could do their “movements” and “burn rubber”.
“I would be all for that.”
A police spokeswoman said they understood it was “distressing” for victims of the TECT Park street racer event. Police were still making inquiries into the circumstances of the incident and investigating.
She asked anyone who witnessed the crash who had not yet come forward to contact police via 105 and quote file number 230424/1454.
Information could also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
In a written parliamentary question, Police Minister Ginny Andersen was asked how many CARD (Communications and Resource Deployment) events were categorised as unauthorised street and drag racing and how many were attended by police since October 2017 nationally.
In her response, Andersen said police recorded 76,793 unauthorised street and drag racing CARD events and attended 21,067.
While the numbers of such events seemed high, they made up one per cent of all events recorded by police each year, she said.
Non-attended events may have, in some cases, been followed up at a later date, she said.
Andersen said 56 per cent of such events related to burnouts, skids, donuts, and wheelies.
She said police prioritised resources to respond to “emergency demand” and would always attend events where people’s lives or safety were in danger.
Andersen said events were assessed and categorised in priority from one to six, with priority one being the highest.
She said police attended 70 per cent of unauthorised street and drag racing priority one calls and 63 per cent of priority two calls.
Andersen and Justice Minister Kiri Allan said in a statement this week the Government was cracking down on “dangerous and reckless drivers” who fled police and put innocent lives at risk.
It said the Land Transport (Road Safety) Amendment Bill had been introduced to Parliament. Once passed, it would mean drivers could be disqualified for longer, have their vehicle taken away for good, or the owner of the car could have their vehicle impounded if they intentionally withheld information that could help the police track down the driver of a fleeing vehicle.
“We are giving police the resources, the legislation, and the tools to keep these dangerous drivers off our roads,” Andersen said.