Fix for rural burnout parties in Waikato ain't cheap

Tuesday, 13 July 2021

The Tauhei drag race “meet” on June 26 attracted a huge crowd.

Kiwis may have to treat the boy racer issue like the United Kingdom is treating Covid-19.

Problem intersections could be inoculated with traffic-calming measures, but experts say the burnout parties will just move to a new host location.

It seems residents may just have to live with them.

Falgoon Patel wants people to be less judgmental towards boy racers.

Hundreds of vehicles, and almost double the number of people, have taken to gathering at the Matuku and Tauhei intersection, near Morrinsville, to watch cars do burnouts.

* Boy-racer antics terrify community, with some 'fearing for their lives'

* New police team aims to put handbrake on boy racers

Waikato road policing manager Inspector Jeff Penno says police will continue to crack down on illegal boy racers and urged people to keep calling police if they see anything suspicious.

It’s a place to socialise, show off cars and burn some rubber, with most spots chosen for accessibility, parking and multiple entry/exit points.

At all hours of the night, residents are left feeling terrified and want it to stop.

So, is changing the road’s layout the answer?

The boy racer problem at the Tauhei and Matuku roads intersection, near Morrinsville, could be solved by installing a traffic island.

A short, simple answer, is yes, but there are implications.

Waikato road policing manager Inspector Jeff Penno told Stuff a traffic island, for example, is the best long-term solution, but it’s cost-prohibitive and many roads in Waikato would need to be changed.

It also needs to be designed for all road users, so the effects can be limiting.

This isn’t just a Waikato problem, either, it’s cropping up in many police districts, he said.

Parking lines are cheap, but they also prevent residents and members of the public from parking there too.

Penno said police understand the public’s intolerance to it, but “we need to work within the legislation we have”.

“The majority are law-abiding people, who are moving around our district, lawfully … there’s nothing stopping them driving and stopping on the road somewhere.

Road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson said a strong police presence is key to combatting boy racer activity.

“Unless people start offending, then we definitely have the legislative ability to deal with it.”

Waikato police impounded nine vehicles last week through Operation Shadow – a police team set up to target illegal street racing – after calls made from the public.

“Keep telling us what you see, we have people working on this fulltime.

“We are doing everything we can do to disable this group and their activities.”

The intersection at Tauhei is an ideal location for illegal racers because it’s between Hamilton, Tauranga and Auckland, and attracts people from all over the North Island.

Road safety campaigner and editor of the car review website Dog and Lemon, Clive Matthew-Wilson said smart road design can make it harder for boy racers.

“Obviously, if a roundabout gets built in the middle of their favourite piece of road, it’s going to be much harder to drive like idiots. Also, the authorities could put in temporary road blocks on nights when the racers were in action,” Matthew-Wilson said.

But in many cases, he said, boy racers will simply move somewhere else.

“To boy racers, it’s a party. They get to hang out with their mates, have fun, challenge the authorities. If they get blocked in one place, they just use social media to arrange to meet somewhere else.”

Matamata-Piako District mayor Ash Tanner is stumped on how to solve the problem but agrees CCTV or a designated boy racer spot offer a way forward.

There are few easy solutions to the problem.

“To some extent they’re looking for conflict. Young males have a profound need to challenge the world around them. They want to be seen and heard. They want to have power. So, in the case of boy racers, they behave like dickheads.”

Matthew-Wilson said offering boy racers a racetrack was not the answer.

“They want to challenge authority and using a racetrack is seen as giving in.

“The only real solution is a strong police presence on the nights when boy racers are active. If the police don’t act, the locals will, and there’s a high chance of someone getting hurt.”

Residents are worried fed-up farmers with shotguns might take the law into their own hands – car enthusiasts have already been shot at in a hotspot on the southern side of Hamilton.

Tauhei resident Cody McRobbie said someone might go out there and start shooting at them or block the roads with their tractors.

“It’s going to happen, someone will retaliate,” McRobbie said.

Cars queue along Matuku Rd at a drag race gathering. The image has been digitally altered.

Tyres screech and pop, roads are blocked and people and children often wake to the commotion.

The next day, rubber, beer bottles and rubbish litter the scene that was hot only hours before.

The Matamata-Piako District mayor doesn’t know what the solution is.

An island will just shift the boy racers to a different intersection and cause problems for trucks, he said.

“All we will be doing is pushing the problem further down the road.”

He said a designated burnout pad or CCTV cameras might be better options.

“How much do you invest? If a high-quality camera costs $20,000 to $30,000 but can’t capture the drivers or gets damaged, is that a prudent investment of ratepayers’ money?” he asked.

Tanner is a bit of an enthusiast himself, admitting he owned his own burnout car.

“It was good fun,” he said.

No-one runs or owns the car scene, events are spread by word of mouth or on social media – there are even fake accounts to throw off authorities where the event will be based.

University of Waikato Psychology Professor Samuel Charlton, who works in the area of driver behaviour, said it’s not the intersection that’s the problem – boy racers will find somewhere else to go.

Charlton didn’t believe a traffic island was the best solution.

Instead, a designated “space would be ideal, but it would need to be a pretty attractive place”.