Boy racer 'death traps' forced off road

Seventeen cars, including several described by police as "death traps", were ordered off the road over the weekend during the second phase of a major offensive against boy racers.

One car was so dangerous that it had to be towed away while another had lowered springs that fell out when inspected.

The campaign - conducted in the western Bay of Plenty on Friday and Saturday nights - targeted vehicle modifications, defects and noise and resulted in 30 cars being pulled over and thoroughly examined.

Of those, 17 were found in breach of the law.

Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said today: "This is extremely bad news because these are the vehicles that will cause the crashes out there."

Of those that failed, one was in such bad condition it had to be towed from the testing site while another had to be put on a truck to Napier where it had come from.

"Some of the cars were like death traps, one had lowered springs that fell out when it was inspected."

The rest were issued with pink or green stickers banning them from the roads until they get the necessary alterations.

The Labour weekend operation followed the first phase the previous weekend in which 128 infringement notices and eight traffic offence notices requiring a court appearance were issued. The worst car found was described by police as a "coffin on wheels".

Mr Campion said most owners had failed cars because they had made the modifications themselves and had not done them properly.

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES