Frustrated residents moving house to avoid boy racers
Some people have had to move house and others feel trapped inside their homes due to the antics of boy racers at an Upper Hutt suburb, a police survey has revealed.
Police and members of a working group are considering ways to discourage “anti-social vehicle users” (ASVU) from gathering near Wallaceville Estate, including by applying an anti-slip substance to the roads which makes it difficult to lose traction.
One resident said on his very first night after moving to the suburb, he was woken in the middle of the night by noise from one of the regular boy racer meets in the area.
While he said the issue has improved slightly in recent months, some residents still feel something needs to be done as they deal with sleepless nights and fear for their properties. Some had been forced to move house to avoid it, he said.
The issue is centred on Alexander Rd, which is an industrial area bordering the suburb. The resident noted for many living in “the village”, the building up of houses and townhouses near Alexander Rd had helped block some of the noise travelling further into the suburb.
“I am restricted to my house when these races start. I don’t feel safe to drive when the races start,” said one respondent to the police survey. “In case of an emergency, I fear I won’t be able to travel the roads to reach my family.”
Others said they and their children struggled to sleep due to the noise of tyres screeching and loud music.
“When weekends are approaching, we are left wondering if we are going to get to sleep through the night,” one said.
A mum of a young baby said she feared what could happen if any of the cars crashed into her property.
The survey was run for two weeks during May and June last year and was completed by 249 people.
About 85 per cent of respondents said they had been negatively affected by ASVU behaviours.
Respondents were affected by noise, rubbish left, the smell of smoke from tyres and road damage.
One resident, who spoke to the Herald and did not want to be named for fear of repercussions, said when the survey was carried out, ASVU drivers were meeting in their area nearly every Friday and Saturday night.
Lately, though, he said they were meeting about once every three weeks, in groups of varying sizes.
The resident, who is also a member of the working group focused on ASVU in the Hutt, was not sure exactly why activity had died down, but thought it might have something to do with the weather getting colder.
The police report lists possible actions including the use of blockades, allocating dedicated police staff to confiscate vehicles, installing surveillance cameras and targeting tyre suppliers to ensure tyres they are disposing of don’t end up in the hands of ASVU groups.