Leading Taranaki businessman John Rae is insisting that an incident where he allegedly did a wheelie, which was witnessed by a police officer, was unintentional.
The Taranaki Chamber of Commerce chairman was charged under the boy racer legislation and his luxury Mercedes worth about $250,000 was seized.
Rae said the incident happened because he was in a hurry and pulled out too fast, the Dominion Post reported today. "I lost traction," he said.
He insisted the incident was unintentional and said he knew a police officer was on the Te Awamutu side street.
"Who in their right mind would blatantly lose traction if they knew there was a police officer watching what they were doing?" Mr Rae was quoted as saying.
About 45 minutes later police stopped the car -- with his wife driving and his mother-in-law as a passenger -- and told him it was being confiscated.
He hired a rental car to get back to New Plymouth.
The type of Mercedes he drives features a traction control device which prevents wheelspins -- unless manually deactivated.
- NZPA
Businessman insists wheelie unintentional
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