A married couple are calling for police to have stronger powers to impound and “crush” street racer vehicles in the wake of a “frightening” evening at the weekend.
They found themselves trapped in a mass of street racer cars heading towards State Highway 21 – also known as Airport Rd – in a similar fashion to another motorist who said she was “beyond terrified” during the ordeal.
It was shortly after 11:15pm on Saturday when the man, who Stuff has agreed not to name due to safety fears, were traveling along Ruakura Rd just outside of Hamilton.
But the couple’s drive home turned into a nightmare as they approached the intersection of Ruakura Rd and the SH1 off-ramp.
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The man and his wife suffered a similar fate to a Cambridge woman, who took the above picture. She was left terrified after becoming caught up in a street racer gathering near Hamilton Airport.
“We were stuck in the middle of dozens of cars screaming tyres, burning rubber, smoke everywhere and people walking all over the road, many with alcohol, cars blowing their horns continually,” the man said on Monday morning.
He initially thought there had been an accident, but quickly clicked that all the cars were parked in various directions and their drivers were out on the road as he and his wife sat there, helpless.
“It was frightening, and my wife was petrified with fear. We counted over 350 vehicles that we could see parked on every bit of road, footpaths, in a field, and we couldn’t see how many were further up the (SH1) off ramp road.”
The pair had nowhere to go and could only hope their vehicle wouldn’t be hit by a passing street racer.
It’s a similar account to that of a Cambridge resident who came face to face with the convoy later in the evening on Airport Rd.
The woman said she was blocked in and started to panic. “I couldn’t pass, and there were more than 100 cars behind me now, either parking up behind me, in the middle of the road, or trying to pass me.”
The man said he and his wife were scarred and frustrated.
He is adamant that more needs to be done to counter the issue of street racer gatherings before someone else has to face the same thing.
“Somebody needs to take control of this … there is no consequence for these criminals … when are our judges going to protect innocent people and simply crush the cars – a simple solution,” he said.
”You can’t rely on police, they couldn’t have handled the number of cars … I feel for them, they probably would have loved to deal to those sorts of things but they can’t because they don’t have the resources.”
He and his wife are now contemplating using an alternative route when traveling in the Ruakura area and he hoped a stronger hand will be used by those in power to address street racer issues.
Police have been approached for comment.