Boy racers worry country residents

Weekend convoys of up to 30 cars speeding and doing burnouts on rural roads have residents fearing for their safety.

Opaki-Kaipororo Rd resident Tori Bunny has three preschoolers, aged 4, 2 and 6 months and is now too scared to take them out walking.

"I walk across the bridge with my kids, if racers come along it's dangerous. I've stopped doing that, I go down in my car now," she said.

Her husband had tried waving down the racers but stopped due to fear of retribution.

"If we go outside, we're worried they will see who we are. We're always worried about repercussions," she said.

Mrs Bunny is concerned the boy racers will cause harm to other road users. She said she had witnessed a near miss on the bridge.

Mrs Bunny said she had contacted police several times.

"We've rung the cops heaps, we try and get their number plates. They're mad and they do it every weekend," she said. "They're just young and idiotic."

Mrs Bunny's neighbour shared her safety concerns but was reluctant to be named.

"I worry about people going out of our driveway," she said.

"It would be good to see some police out here on Friday or Saturday night to stop it."

Another resident, who also refused to be named, was frustrated at the mess the boy racers were making.

"Regularly a group of noisy cars come out and put diesel on the road, [which is] very dangerous for passing motorcyclists, and do burnouts."

He said the boy racers had, on one occasion, assaulted his son-in-law.

"When my son-in-law slowed to get number plates of some of several cars present, they threw a can of beer at him.

"There would not be a rural intersection that is not defaced by skid-marks. Even all around town too."

Acting Sergeant Shayne Nolan said Masterton police were aware the dangerous behaviour of the boy racers could lead to "serious injury or death".

"There has been fatal crashes in that area," he said. "There was an anniversary of a young woman's death that occurred in that area and we believe that has something to do with increased activity."

He said police viewed burnouts as a serious offence. "This type of behaviour is more serious as far as legislation goes than a drink-driving offence - the penalties are more severe."

Police needed help from the public to catch boy racers. "They deliberately target these areas knowing that it's difficult to police, they keep a lookout, they are very well organised.

"We would like registration numbers and descriptions of the vehicles."

Mr Nolan warns people to stay out of sight when taking down registrations and to first call police.