‘Lawless’ boy racers take over the streets on Home Services

Mar

‘Lawless’ boy racers take over the streets

posted by admin in Window Cleaning

Boy racer chaos on Christchurch streets

%26bull; Blog: An open letter to ‘boyracers’

Christchurchs Little Hagley and North Hagley Parks were yesterday littered with smashed glass and hundreds of discarded bottles after Harper Avenue was grid-locked by thousands of boy racers.
They were drawn to the city for the annual Fours and Rotary Autoshow at Westpac Stadium.
Boy-racer bans on the Oxford Terrace Strip and several streets on the city outskirts where they had previously gathered did nothing to stop the problem re-emerging on Harper Avenue.
Police said the scene was %26quot;lawless%26quot; with officers being attacked with thrown bottles and diesel poured on the road.
Hundreds of youths drinking along the parks main thoroughfare honked, yelled, performed burnouts and revved engines well into Sunday morning, making sleep impossible for residents and guests at nearby hotels.
Harper Avenue was closed for two hours while the crowd was dispersed and the road was cleaned of diesel.
There were no arrests but police said they had identified offenders and would be calling on them throughout the week.
Fendalton residents cleaning up the park on Sunday morning were angrily questioning the councils %26quot;kick-and-chase%26quot; policy that had transferred the problem from Moorhouse Avenue onto their doorsteps.
Moorhouse Avenue had a temporary nighttime no-parking order placed on it last week, targeting boy racers who had been linked to property damage there.
The Strip section of Oxford Terrace was also closed to cars.
Residents of plush Helmores Lane described Saturdays scene on Harper Avenue as %26quot;carnage%26quot;.
Thousands of cars poured off Bealey Avenue with people hanging out of windows or with their heads sticking out of sun-roofs, one resident said.
When cars were forced off Harper Avenue, many detoured down Carlton Mill Road and took their wheel-squealing antics to Fendalton.
%26quot;In 20 years here Ive never seen such an absolute outrage of lawlessness,%26quot; said one resident.
%26quot;I used to have some sympathy for them — we were all young once — but last night was just appalling.%26quot;
One resident whose house overlooks the intersection of Bealey and Harper Avenues said the scene was chaotic.
The traffic had started about 8pm and lasted until about 4.30am on Sunday, he said.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said he drove through the area and was shocked by the %26quot;unbelievable scenes%26quot;.
Senior Sergeant Trevor Pullen, the head of the Canterbury Road Policing Group, said all road policing staff had leave cancelled and were on patrol for %26quot;one of the busiest weekends weve had%26quot;.
City-wide, police arrested 10 drivers for drink-driving offences and issued more than 400 tickets for traffic violations.
Another 20 cars were ordered off the road for defects including one %26quot;heap of junk%26quot; which had suspension springs cut in six different places.
An 18-year-old youth was arrested for throwing bottles into the yard of the central police station.
American tourist Robert Moulton said he would be telling people back home in Portland, Maine, to %26quot;stay out of there (Christchurch)%26quot; after he had to change rooms in the middle of the night to sleep.
Moulton said he and his wife loved Hagley Park but while walking back to his hotel a group of boy-racer cars roared past, scaring them.
%26quot;They hung out the window and yelled profanities at us. I will not stay here again,%26quot; Moulton said. %26quot;Youre going to lose tourist dollars. Hooligans are running the city.%26quot;
Spokesmen for two hotels in the Hagley Park area said they had to move customers away from their best park-side rooms.
One hotelier reported having bottles thrown at him when he ventured onto Bealey Avenue to clean up the streets.
A hotel manager, who declined to be named, summed up the situation: %26quot;This industry is being destroyed by a minority group.
%26quot;I understand the Orana Park decision (to ban boy racers from McLeans Island) but they are dragging them from out of town into town.%26quot;
Parker agreed the problem had been moved but said the council was doing all it could to help police.
It had closed Moorhouse Avenue at the request of police and would continue to close roads, including Harper Avenue, if asked.
Parker said the weekends main two problems were lawlessness created by alcohol, which was a police concern, and noise, which central government should address through blanket bans on cars whose exhausts exceed 90 decibels.
National MP Nicky Wagner said tighter noise controls were essential.
She backed the 90-decibel level, which she said was well above the standard of other countries and would not affect unmodified cars.
THEY SAY
%26quot;They hung out the window and yelled profanities at us. I will not stay here again. Hooligans are running the city. — American tourist Robert Moulton
%26quot;Ive never seen it like that. There was a sense they were having a real go.%26quot; — resident, Bealey Avenue
%26quot;Some of the parents of these kids need to have a look at what their children are up to and have a good look at themselves too.%26quot; — Senior Sergeant Trevor Pullen
%26quot;I was in disbelief at the sheer volume of noise.%26quot; — Bob Parker, Christchurch Mayor
%26quot;I said `Honey, do you hear those race cars? It sounds like the Daytona 500 out there.%26quot; — American tourist
%26quot;Theyre just dragging the problem from one area to another.%26quot; — hotel owner, Riccarton Road
%26quot;It was bedlam from 8pm onwards. The car shows should stop.%26quot; — resident, Carlton Mill Road