Street-racing death inevitable, says mayor

It is inevitable that someone will be killed by street racers, says Manukau mayor Sir Barry Curtis.

Sir Barry, one of the driving forces behind legislation on street racing, will meet police this week to discuss a plan to deal with boy racers, who he said must be stopped before someone was killed.

"It is inevitable. Somebody is going to get killed," he said.

His comments follow a near-fatal crash when a boy racer lost control and hit parked cars in East Tamaki yesterday. Seven people were hurt, three with serious injuries.

New laws had curbed the boy racers for a while but Sir Barry said street racing was growing in popularity again and people's lives were at risk.

"These are kids who are coming from right across the Auckland region and beyond," he said. "We were dead lucky somebody didn't get killed."

Police estimated about 200 young people saw the accident, when the driver of a Honda Civic lost control and hit two parked cars.

Most of the spectators disappeared as soon as the crash happened.

Sir Barry said the racers were driving at speeds of 150km/h. He claimed the legislation was working well and said police had enough power to put racers off the road.

Manukau City Council had also passed by-laws to back up the legislation.

"But it is the age-old story," he said. "Police can't be on every corner right throughout the night."

He said sooner or later a boy racer driver would face a manslaughter charge when someone died.

He said if a car was impounded and then returned to its owner, it would be permanently confiscated if it was involved in a second offence.

Sir Barry added: "We are willing to look at anything to stop this scourge of boy racing. It shouldn't be happening and if anyone has any ideas in the community, I invite them to contact me."

The deaths of two women on Auckland roads recently were thought to have been caused by cars racing other cars.

Police have appealed for witnesses to the weekend accident in East Tamaki and a police team has been established to target boy racers in the district.

- NZPA