They do it to annoy – and it’s working
Following the Boxing Day exodus by neighbours to warmer northern climes, my street is unusually quiet. Even the loathsome boy racers – who love to hoon down one of the few straight roads in the inner city without speed humps – are away.
Perhaps they all went to Christchurch for the ‘‘Aves Invasion’’ meeting last Friday night. If you thought that boy racers now all go to bed early because they are scared their cars will be impounded and crushed thanks to the trailblazing legislation passed by former National police minister Judith ‘‘Crusher’’ Collins, think again.
Boy racing is alive and well, and currently proving a popular pastime in Christchurch. Cruising in a car is banned in the Garden City, thanks to a 2010 bylaw. I have no idea how such a rule can be enforced, and it’s obviously not working, as hundreds of boy racers descended on Christchurch on Friday.
But the police were one step ahead and closed them down. Judith Collins gave the boys in blue a big thumbs up on social media. Problem solved!
Except the problem wasn’t solved, and never will be if we think harsh penalties and more policing is the only way to fix the problem. This was no battle, but a cat-and-mouse guerrilla war. On Saturday night, the boy racers were at it again. The plan was to invade the central city but the clever racers, like a crack Vietcong platoon during the Tet Offensive, realised the police were on to them.
No problem. Using Snapchat and other social media, they quickly outsmarted the cumbersome plods and moved their burnout fest to the dense bogan concrete jungle of the outer suburbs. Older residents, parents with young kids and moteliers whose guests were complaining about the noise were justifiably furious. The racket was still going at four in the morning, not to mention the continual wailing of police sirens.
Though I would hate to be a resident putting up with that sort of noise, it does amuse me that businesses and organisations around the country invest millions of dollars in consultants to teach their moribund institutions to be more agile and reactive to market conditions. Perhaps these institutions should consider hiring some of the racers from the Chch Dwnunda Facebook page – smart amateurs who successfully restaged an entire major city event via social media within minutes – to come and talk to their management teams. It shouldn’t be too difficult, as I’m pretty sure the Dwnundas have their own transport.
This latest event is apparently an attempt by the boy racer community to relive the ‘‘good old days’’ of the 1980s. I guess this is a problem in large avenue-based cities primarily designed for the motor car.
So what can be done? By Sunday, Collins had decided that it was the Government’s fault, and her ‘‘crusher’’ plan needed to be put back in action. Does she really think Dion of Hornby and Chantelle of Aranui read Hansard to understand the finer points of legislation before embarking on a night of burnouts in the Mitsubishi?
The police are taking the matter seriously – there is even talk they have planted undercover officers in the boy racer organisation. Given how fast some police drive, I suspect that, for some officers, going undercover will simply entail turning their cap around the other way.
Over the weekend, almost 200 fines and infringement notices were dished out. Will these fines be paid, will things change, or will the saga continue with no real solution? Do you really think that the hundreds of kids hooning around outer
Does [Collins] really think Dion of Hornby and Chantelle of Aranui read Hansard before embarking on a night of burnouts in the Mitsubishi?
Christchurch were having rational discussions about how they would pay their fines if they were caught?
What if boy racers were given their own space, well away from residential areas, where they could burnout to their hearts’ content? That has been suggested by quite a few sensible people. ‘‘If they gave us somewhere legal to do skids it would be used quite a bit,’’ said an anonymous organiser of the Aves Invasion event.
It’s certainly worth a go, but I can’t help thinking that half the fun for a lot of those involved is that it annoys everyone so much. When a cycling, climate-change-aware, basil-growing baby boomer like me sees kids burning fuel and rubber for no real purpose except idle fun, I become apoplectic. And I suspect that’s quite fun to watch.
My baby boomer generation dropped out, wore our hair long and protested about events on the other side of the world. Though we were often sincere, we were also acutely aware of the irritating effect our actions were having on the older generation, and we enjoyed it. It might pay to remember that as we loudly complain about boy racers. Vroooommmm!