Crush bill for boy racers almost ready

Legislation to combat the problem of boy racers could be presented to Parliament this week. Photo / The Aucklander

Car-crushing boy racer legislation could be introduced to Parliament as early as this week, Prime Minister John Key said yesterday.

Police Minister Judith Collins said last month she was preparing a bill that would allow courts to order boy racer cars to be crushed as a punishment for repeat offences.

Mr Key confirmed yesterday that there was "a crushing element" in the bill as a last resort.

He said Transport Minister Steven Joyce would introduce a separate bill, also dealing with the boy racer issue.

"They are reasonably wide-ranging and I believe they will cut to the heart of the problem," he said at his post-Cabinet press conference.

Ms Collins, who got the nickname "Crusher" soon after she became a minister, said last month she was still negotiating support for the bill with other parties.

That has apparently been achieved, because the Government doesn't introduce bills unless it has the numbers to pass them.

The previous Government tightened laws on boy racers but they seem to have done little to curb the problems of noise and dangerous driving.

Ms Collins said the police were doing a good job but they needed support to deal with the problem.

Cars could be confiscated under current law and courts could order them to be sold, she said, but they were bought by other boy racers and the problem was recycled.

- NZPA