Effectiveness of ‘boy racer’ ban questioned

A Christchurch car enthusiast and self-confessed driving ‘‘addict’’ is questioning the effectiveness of a city council proposal to block boy racers from Summit Rd.

Christchurch City Council is seeking public feedback on a proposal to prohibit vehicles weighing under 3500 kilograms from using about 18 kilometres of the road between Rapaki and Gebbies Pass roads from 10pm to 5am on Thursdays through to Monday morning and on public holidays.

Worsleys Rd from Summit Rd, to the start of the Worsley Spur Track, would also be included in the restriction, which has been proposed as a way to stop antisocial driver behaviour, vandalism, graffiti, diesel spills on roads, fire and the dumping of rubbish, which residents and custodians have been complaining about for years. Police would monitor and enforce the restriction, which would be put in place under the council’s cruising bylaw.

But Tony Valentine, who said he had been in and out of ‘‘so-called boy racer groups’’ for 20 years, was not convinced the proposal would work.

‘‘Are the police going to be up there [on Summit Rd] every night patrolling it? [If] you get a group of 10 boy racers up there doing their stuff, how many are they going to catch? Are they going to send 10 patrol cars up there? Are they going to block roads?

‘‘It’s hard to police and with the amount of armed robberies going on in Canterbury at the moment are we really worried about someone doing a skid on the road?’’

Valentine said in his past experience Summit Rd was not a major congregation point for boy racers.

‘‘I’ve never gone up there and nor has anyone that I ever hang out with.

‘‘In saying that, there are a lot of groups that have formed up themselves now that are doing their own thing – like your four-wheel-drives, like your Subarus … that like racing around the hills.’’

He believed there was a group of boy racers that let everyone else down with their behaviour. ‘‘You’ve got bad eggs in every basket,’’ Valentine said.

Property owners, residents and their ‘‘bona fide’’ visitors, as well as cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles weighing more than 3500kg, would still have access during the restricted hours, a council consultation document said.

The council has already used the bylaw to ban boy racers in certain areas of the city.

PHOTO: IAIN MCGREGOR/STUFF ‘Car enthusiast’ Tony Valentine, who mixed in boy-racer groups for 20 years, has questioned how easy it will be to enforce the ban.