The government introduced its anti-"boy racer" bills to Parliament today, and in keeping with its "tough on crime" PR strategy, focused on the new power to crush vehicles, with Police Minister Judith Collins saying that "every new offence will bring [boy racers] closer to the crusher".
This raises the obvious question (again unasked by the Herald): how many cars do they plan to crush? The bill allows for confiscation and destruction after third illegal street racing offence. How many cars is that? Here's the estimate from their advice on the matter:
[In 2007] 10 offenders were convicted of a third illegal street racing offence within four years.So, about ten crushings a year. In other words, the whole thing is nothing but a "tough on crime" PR exercise.
