Taupō Police: Young hoons destroying property, risking lives

Vehicles doing burnouts and donuts are destroying public property and grass verges. Photo / File

Tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you to the Kinloch community for their vigilance around reporting the antics of some young people who had no regard for the property of others and our great community. The residents were quick to call Police and note details of a vehicle that was doing donuts and burnouts on the Kinloch Golf Course.

Our Police youth aid section are now working with these young offenders and their families to address the damage they have caused. These young people are evident around our community with their antics, burnouts and donuts in intersections, ripping up grass verges along the roads into Taupō. This behaviour is not acceptable and visitors to our great town should not be greeted by these sights.

If you witness this type of behaviour and it is occurring at the time please call us on 111. If you are able to get photos of these people then do so, video is even better, and report it to us as soon as you can.

We are working on active lines of inquiry for a group within Taupō that are the main offenders for this. When we catch up with them they will lose their cars for 28 days, they will go to court and highly likely lose their licence for six months, and we will be seeking reparation for any damage caused.

On another occasion, Police stopped a young driver travelling in excess of 150km/h on State Highway 1. This speed is ridiculous and a split second of inattention will result in catastrophe. Emergency service workers do not enjoy picking up injured people from crashes, and we do not enjoy seeing the worst-case scenarios.

Senior Sergeant Fane Troy, Taupō Police. Photo / File

How do we resolve this behaviour in our young drivers? First, as parents, have discussions with your kids about their antics on the roads. Explain the consequences of what will happen. Unfortunately we have a number of whānau across our area who have had to endure this and the ongoing grief and sorrow it brings.

Remember that as parents and adults, we set the expectations we expect from our children. So if we drive like idiots, then that is what our children will do. If we are courteous and follow the road rules, we are setting clear expectations for our children and others to follow.

Stay safe, Fane Troy