Car crushing a welcome hoon humiliation
"Well, National have sure got one piece of policy correct. "
Featured commentToday’s public crushing of a recidivist boy racer’s car by police minister Anne Tolley is good news.
Three years after seizure and crushing legislation was introduced there has been a 17% reduction in grossly anti-social and mindless boy-racing offending.
Clearly, the hoons don’t want their cars crushed.
But some have not learned because the cars of 116 “second strike” offenders are in the wings, in anticipation of a third and crushing final solution.
Car crushing is a humiliating procedure and one which photographed offenders should be required to witness.
Public humiliation is a salutary lesson for many offenders – think stocks and pillory – and needs to be used more.
Young men, in particular, loathe public humiliation and being laughed at.
The car crushing goes part of the way in delivering a punishment which fits the crime.
It will be welcomed by law-abiding folk keen to see these street scum taken out of circulation.
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11am: Police minister Anne Tolley this morning pushed the button to crush the first boy racer car since legislation was passed in 2009.
The crushing, complete with full media attendance, took place at a Lower Hutt scrap metal yard, and itook about 45 seconds.
The vehicle to be crushed had its wheels and tyres removed.
There are 116 vehicles on the "second strike" list, all of which face the crusher on their third strike.
The crushing was staged as a media event - an exercise in public humiliation.
Political insiders told NBR ONLINE former police minister Judith "Crusher" Collins, now Justice and ACC minister, welcomes the event, but may be a little peeved that her finger is not on this button on this occasion.
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Comments and questions36
Sniff!
Well National have sure got one piece of policy correct
Maybe she could also get the gallows out as well. While drug dealers and bikie gangs do as they please this minister poses for pics because she crushed a car. Is she a minister or a paparazzi seeker?
Sweet!
It looked like a piece of crap that deserved to be crushed
Unbelievable that the Police Minister is available for such a publicity stunt - but unaware, seemingly oblivious and unwilling to engage on a more important matter being, the way that the new Christchurch Police Chief is destroying the morale in the Christchurch troops. Firstly a shocking display from him at Pike River and then he is set loose to destroy culture from the inside of a Police force managing extreme pressures in a city needing help. But oh no, push the buttons and crush the cars Minister. Far more important...
Roll up, roll up! More cheap publicity stunts coming your way. But first, the weather...
Crusher Collins couldn't crush a paper bag.
A great example of PR over substance.
She has delivered nothing but hot air in any of the roles she has held.
And she is a candidate for leadership of the National Party! Pray for us.
All PR puffery; style over substance. It took four long years to find a suitable candidate to show off to the press. Just as well these drongos aren't in the recruiting business.
In New Zealand you can you drive a car without any insurance at all, which in the UK for example, is compulsory and priced to stop young drivers gaining access to high performance vehicles.
Its the lack of insurance premiums that allow young driver more money to put toward cars that have the performance of a 90's supercar.
Crush the car? Push up the entry level to fast cars for young drivers by $4/5000 through compulsory insurance - as it is in other countries.
Yes grandad, now go get a scone and a cuppa tea
Compulsory Insurance, the idiots who drive these cars would not buy the insurance. When I registered my first car in NZ 40+ years ago you purchased third party insurance with your registration. A non registered car is easier for the police to spot than one travelling without insurance
Having just returned from the UK I can tell you that insurance costs are prohibitive, but you must have insurance otherwise the car will not be issued with its anual Tax Disk (our equivalent of Motor Vehicle Annual Registration). Note the UK are very straight forward, it is a TAX.
My firends son had to insure a gbp500 vehicle, his insurance was gpb2500 per annum!!! Another case the driver was a young UK citizen returning from the USA with a USA drivers license. The choice was, lessons and sit for a UK drivers license, or rely on some cross credit and use the USA license. The insurance on a cheap vehicle should the youth choose NOT to sit the UK license was gbp14,000 not a misprint gbp14,000 per annum.
With 16 times the NZ population I would have expected to see huge numbers of boy racer type cars, and the truth is there seemed to be less on the roads in the UK, Their system works. Oh, and if the law breakers do decide to go on the road without a Tax Disk and No Insurance the Police vehicles have automatic Number Plate recognition cameras that cross check databases and instantly flag the offenders vehicle which is promptly stopped and empounded.
Another feature on the motorways is Speed Cameras working in Pairs to time a vehicle over a long section of motorway, and if the Average spead is above the "acceptable tolerance" a speeding ticket is issued with Demerit points. 3 points per ticket, and if you accumulate 12 points in any 3 year period Instant 12m loss of license. If you think NZ has a large number of speed cameras you need to think again, the UK roads, towns, villages, motorways are littered with 10,000s of them sometimes just 200m apart.
Congratulations, what took them so long???????????????????????
This one must have been a REAL BAD BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What an absolute joke! Tolley was getting her thrills in crushing a piece of s&*t! and the boy racers are cracking a woody & saluting the next burnout! why not crush a car with real value...20" rims $10k stereo recaro seats & leave it all in there!
shame they don't leave the drivers inside as well....
Why don't they just sell the car to someone else and defray some of the enforcement cost to us taxpayers? Isn't this crushing just pointless political grandstanding?
Did anyone stop to think that this is a policy that has effectively cost nothing but has had some deterrent effect and if it has made one idiot driver think twice and possibly saved an accident or even a life, then it has to be good.
As for the publicity --it is all part of an effective policy to raise awareness of it. It just may make a few more idiot drivers think twice.
Bet this will be the lead item on tonites TV news..
She's out getting her hair done for the interview now
They should just leave these young guys to live life, enjoy themselves and burn some rubber.......
It just goes to show what the police like to do in their towns.I dont know about other towns but the taranaki police couldnt even find Taranaki's most wanted person, that they had to ask the public but yet still have enough time to make sure that guy's Skyline or Laurel down the road has a warrant of ftiness and a rego, like one policeman said to me before they are there to make money and go home at the end of the day with a pay check and they couldnt care what goes on after they are off the clock.
Good start but what about crushing the cars of slow, feeble minded drivers, right lane hoggers and empty buses?
Well said FedUp
What else could we get the stocks out for? How about fraud? 48 hours languishing in Vulcan Lane [Auckland CBD] would be a better deterrent than 18 months 'time out' brushing up on accountancy -- or whatever it is these gentlemen study during their time in prison. And the cost to the taxpayer would be minimal. NZ society has gone soft on crime, happy to see scumbag behaviour paraded as news on the front pages of gormless daily newspapers.
silly silly minster - crushing costs money, would have been better to sell and keep proceeds
another example of a dracoian government wasting resources... i am sure a needy family out there would have appreciated a car more than some hoon....
Great way to deal with the "boy racer" problem but interesting that they can impound your car then take ti away for crushing after 3 driving offences while they still allow brankrupted convicted businessmen to drive around in their $100k cars live in their $900k plus homes and the courts do not seem to be in a hurry to havr that taken away and sold or crushed, maybe "boy racers" should take a page out of their books and put their car in a family trust you know pull a rod petricevic on it and see if that gets around the loop hole of this boy racer law.
Bankruptcy is not a crime whereas driving offences are.
Grumpy old fogies : 1
Teenage drivers : 0
Well cant ALWAYS blame the teen, esp when you see his MUM, mate the state of her. lol. "HE A GOOD BOY"
yeh shes a chubby chick bit of a retard jk.
The car looked like it was destined for the crusher anyway - making the exercise completely lame. Should be the ministerial BMW in there - complete with passenger! Even boy racers are further up the food chain than those lowlifes.
It was hardly a dignifying spectacle, seeing the minister standing atop the flattened car, like it was some kind or trophy-kill. it was unnecessary to indulge in that kind of gleeful gloating.
What a waste of resources.Sell for parts would defray some of the cost to the taxpayers for this ill conceived cavalier stunt.
Would be fantastic if they extended this policy to crushing the nuts and ovaries of the prolific breeders on benefits that drain the coffers and force the rest of us to pay high tax rates. Introducing that policy could really help the country go forwards.