A convoy made a stop at Castlecliff Beach on Saturday evening. Photo / Supplied
Parts of Whanganui were filled with the roar of engines throughout Saturday evening after vehicles came to the River City for a gathering called 'North Island Invades'.
Sergeant Colin Wright, head of the Whanganui Road Policing Group, said police received a lot of calls from members of the public about the noise and size of the convoys.
About 250 vehicles were involved, he said.
"Obviously they were not all from Whanganui. They came from at least Palmerston North, if not other areas too.
"It was advertised by a particular person on social media, so it was a loosely organised event."
Wright said vehicles began to gather at Trafalgar Square at 9pm.
"From there they went out to Mill Road, the big car park at the Castlecliff Surf Lifesaving Club, and to other locations just out of town.
"There were no issues at Trafalgar Square, by all accounts, but when they went to these other places there were a lot of burnouts and donuts."
Local police monitored the convoys and gathered evidence, Wright said.
No arrests were made.
"There have been previous events in and around Whanganui this year, but this was quite a big one.
"We are learning how to deal with it."
There had been instances around the country where milk tankers and police officers were attacked by 'elements of these groups', he said.
Wright said that meant police had to be mindful of not only public safety, but their own safety as well.
It only took a few seconds for someone to "make a huge noise, leave rubber on the road, then disappear", Wright said.
Incidents often happened at night, which meant registration plates were difficult to read, if the vehicle even had them on at all.
"Anyone who drives around Whanganui will notice lots of black marks on roads all over town.
"It's always been about, but anecdotally I would say it's increasing."
Wright said police understood the public's frustrations about the noise at night, but it was a tricky situation to deal with.
"People are concerned about approaching them (drivers) themselves. I wouldn't advocate that anyway, but it makes it very difficult for them to tell us what is going on, who's doing it, and for us to do something about it.
"If there are 250 vehicles you could conceivably be looking 500-plus people potentially.
"This is something that is occurring all over the country."
The weekend's event went until around 2am on Sunday, Wright said.
Road Safety Week kicked off around the country on Monday.
Co-ordinated by international road safety charity Brake and sponsored by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, it recognises the work of people who make roads safer, such as transport planners and engineers, road workers and school crossing patrols.
This year's campaign also celebrates the efforts of the emergency services, including those who save lives at the roadside and in hospitals and care for people after a crash.
Brake's New Zealand director, Caroline Perry, said it was everyone's human right to be able to get around in a safe and healthy way every day.
"There are lots of people who work to make our roads safer, to save lives when crashes happen, and to support those affected by crashes.
"This year we want people to join us in acknowledging all those who work to save lives on roads across the country – and recognise that we can all be road safety heroes by using roads safely and taking actions for road safety in our families, schools, communities and where we work."
Road Safety Week is also supported by New Zealand Police.
As for Whanganui motorists, Wright said the vast majority of people were sticking to the law.
Speeding remained a "never-ending problem", however.
"Nowadays, every time we stop a driver we have been breathalysing.
"It's all about making sure people know that if they do something wrong they are likely to get stopped for it. That's what we are trying to do."
Police did react to complaints from residents and monitored roads that were brought to their attention, Wright said.
They were also supplied with figures from the Whanganui District Council's road monitoring surveys.
"We get mean speed and average speed and so on, and the vast majority of the motoring public are responsible and are good.
"It's those hardcore people we are really looking at more often than not."