Land Transport (Enforcement Powers) Amendment Bill - Second reading

The last month has provided more than enough reason for this Bill to be progressed through the House.

This month began with a three year jail sentence handed down to a young man in Christchurch who was racing another car and probably going over 150 kilometres an hour when he lost control of his car and slammed into another vehicle.

The impact of the crash was so severe that it literally tore his vehicle in two.

But by far the most profound impact was felt in the lives of the families who continue to suffer from an accident that never needed to happen – an accident that injured the driver and killed the woman passenger, Laureen Reilly.

Over the hill in Masterton, a three car crash on rural Manaia Road involving carloads of students from Wairarapa College was a depressing reminder of a period five years earlier when a Wai Coll student had been killed in a crash in a similar circumstances.

And even in my hometown, in the rohe of Waiariki, we too have experienced the chaos and the catastrophe that seems part of the association with illegal street racing.

It was little over three weeks ago when Rotorua went through the spectacle of what was meant to be a peaceful demonstration against this suite of legislation we are debating today.

Some 900 people gathered in 230 cars.

There wasn’t much evidence of peace to be seen with the amount of abuse being pelted out at the police, not to mention the bottles that were thrown, the windows smashed, cars damaged.

All in all 31 arrests were made, five cars impounded and two police cars damaged by this demonstration of wills.

The legislation we are debating today will increase the powers of council and police to disrupt, deter, apprehend and prosecute drivers who are street racing.

Now if we were to believe the positions put forward by those who represent boy racers, we would believe that they are a law-abiding group who simply want to have a forum to be passionate about their souped up cars.

But the situation that occurred in Rotorua last month threw absolute doubt on the veracity of any such claims by this group.

The protest apparently attracted supporters from Auckland, Taupo, Hastings and Tauranga.

I’d be the first in this House to defend the rights of any citizens to put forward their case, to have the opportunity to protest, to challenge, to articulate the views they believe in.

But the focus must surely be on the principles that the protest movement are defending – not behaviours which detract all attention from the cause.

Those arrested in Rotorua faced charges including breaching the liquor ban, drink driving, unpaid fines, driving while disqualified, and possession of methamphetamine.

There are a whole host of public safety issues here, including the senseless injuries and deaths of young people and innocent bystanders, that mean we must look seriously at how the boy racer culture contributes to such situations.

We are concerned about a whole range of safety issues raised by the pouring of diesel on the road, speeding and driving unsafe vehicles.

But I was interested in the positions put forward by Tino Rangatiratanga Tai Tamariki – Youth Law Incorporated – who raised questions about the reasons why the boy racer subculture was being targeted rather than say, taking a firmer stand on the offensive behaviours demonstrated by any drivers breaching the law.

In the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee Report the Committee noted that some of the antisocial behaviour associated with illegal street racing is caused by alcohol consumed in the cars.

In actual fact, of course, someone who consumes or possesses liquor in an open container within a car can be in breach of a liquor control bylaw under the Local Government Act 2002.

The Committee also noted that a recent Law Commission review on the effects of alcohol discusses the issue of the possession or consumption of liquor in open containers within a vehicle.

So if it is drink driving that causes the problems, there are other mechanisms that can be relied upon.

As some of the submitters pointed out, alcohol plays a far greater role in accidents and therefore should be accorded a higher priority issue above illegal street racing.

The question of balance is the key issue for us in the Maori Party.

Josh Hawira from Hamilton told the committee that this Bill ignores basic human rights under the Bill of Rights; namely the freedom of association, peaceful assembly, and movement; and the right against disproportionate punishment.

In his view, having your car impounded for simply ‘driving around’ would in most cases be disproportionate.

It was a view shared also by Matene Te Aho who asked the committee to look beyond penalising boy racers per se, and instead refocus efforts on applying and enforcing existing laws to control public nuisance or disorder related from anti-social behaviour.

Matene described various initiatives trialled in Manukau, Hamilton, Tauranga, and New Plymouth to control boy-racers; including a ‘skid pad’ in New Plymouth which has been instrumental in reducing the number of street racers on the nights in which it is opened up for boy racers.

Another range of interesting ideas came from Activate, a Wellington-based youth advisory group with members aged between 15–21 years.

Activate collected a wide range of views through surveys and talking to young people. Those views included the opinion that the Bills we are debating today, created mistrust between young people and Police.

Oliver Ibbetson, Tai Ahu and Alexis Luo represented these views to the select committee, noting that their advice included the perspectives of young car enthusiasts, youth workers and other interested young people.

The overwhelming theme in their analysis was that the proposed law would not achieve what it was designed to achieve and that the real issue of education around driving attitude was being ignored.

In the words of one of their participants “It will decrease the number of racing cars on the street but not necessarily change driving behaviours.”

Another theme from Activate is that heaps of young people felt that there was no real harm to cruising.

Mr Speaker, in this House today, we may have very different opinions about street racing – indeed this legislation makes that evident.

But in the process of introducing any changes to laws which will have some direct relevance to our young people we must make it absolutely clear that we want to consult young people, we are concerned about their views, and what’s more we will listen.

If young people are truly alarmed that their rights, as car enthusiasts, are going to attract more serious legal consequences we need to ensure their views are heard and demonstrate in our response that their views matter.

We must provide opportunities for our young people to be involved in decisions that affect our communities.

We will be supporting this legislation, because we support any initiatives which are designed to promote public safety and to prevent the ongoing record of deaths and injuries of young people.

While the factors of public nuisance and disorder; the noise and the tragic street crashes are the causes that this legislation responds to, we must never lose sight of the outcomes of the health and long lives of our population.

It is in thinking of the people, and particularly our young, that we vote in support of this Bill; and the accompanying legislation related to vehicle confiscation and seizure.