Editorial: Bad rap for Hawke's Bay boy racers or are they a problem?

Guppy Rd residents Terry and Carolyn Young have had enough of cars speeding past their home in Taradale. PHOTO/Warren Buckland

There have been two pet deaths linked to "boy racers" in the past week.

Do we have a boy racer problem?

Diesel the horse died at Haumoana at the weekend - his owners suspect he was spooked by a noisy vehicle. A damaged fence, bits of what appear to be a car bumper and a broken shed lend weight to the theory.

That, and the fact that noisy vehicles were in the area the night before Diesel was found dead.

"As a community we are sick to death of the boy racers," says Shani Hughes-Keighley, of Parkhill Stables where Diesel lived.

On Monday, Guppy Rd, Taradale residents Terry and Carolyn Young echoed the sentiments after their pet cat Muffin was killed by a speeding driver.

Most of the time, the cars that are going too quickly in the area are at night - Guppy Rd's nearby river is a hot spot for young people in their cars.

Muffin was killed during the day - not normally a peak time for so called boy racers, but still, evidence perhaps that not just boy racers treat Guppy Rd like a "runway".

A petition is under way to get something done in Guppy Rd and politicians are making all the right noises. And police have been doing their thing in the area too.

But as locals say, they can't be there all the time.

There is plenty that can be done to slow drivers down on roads.

But what do we do about "boy racers?" How about talking to them and establishing whether there is indeed a boy racer culture in Hawke's Bay.

Testosterone and cars have always been an interesting mix - ask any father of a teenage daughter dating a male behind the wheel of a rowdy car.

Not all petrolheads are trouble though - Hawke's Bay is home to one of this country's legendary petrolheads - Greg Murphy.

Greg Murphy - a renowned petrolhead and recent inductee into the Hawke's Bay Sports Hall of Fame. Maybe he has some advice for communicating with car enthusiasts. PHOTO/ Duncan Brown

Maybe he has some advice for talking to our car enthusiasts. At the moment, animosity is building, after some pets have been killed.

We don't want the latter to become people, but before we offer up more solutions we need to better understand the problem - then we'll get the best solution.