A road safety advocate is calling for a crackdown on boy/girl racers to be reined in, and given harsher penalties.
It comes after crowds of boy racers and spectators completely blocked Quay Street in central Tāmaki Makaurau on Saturday night, causing gridlock and damage to parked cars.
Four-time Bathurst 1000 winner, Greg Murphy, told AM it's a public nuisance that causes damage and could seriously injure people.
"We're allowing this to manifest," he said.
"It's pretty much all around the country at the moment, we're seeing that on a regular basis."
Footage from the New Zealand Herald showed the moments after a racer's car had crashed into the rear or a parked car, which in turn shunted another parked car.
Murphy said it's become "quite a community of offenders" doing burnouts and car meets, and they're willing to take the risk.
"There needs to be much stricter penalties around. There needs to be confiscation of vehicles - these people aren't stupid."
"They know the laws, they know what they can get away with - they're testing it constantly," he added.
AM host Ryan Bridge agreed, describing boy/girl racers as "people in their cars hooning around and being a nuisance to everyone else."
Police must be able to physically see a driver losing traction at the time of a burnout, in order to issue infringements.
Murphy added police don't have the resourcing, powers, or proper deterrents to stop boy racers.
"It's everywhere, you drive somewhere and see fresh rubber marks, tyre carcasses, and bottles all over the place. There's no respect," he told AM.
Although he was "certainly no angel," in the late 80s in Te Mātau a Māui/Hawke's Bay, he argues they didn't have the means, including the types of vehicles available at the time.
"We didn't even think about doing stuff like this. Now the capability of vehicles available to anyone."
He said Aotearoa has a "huge" car culture, and car modifications are wildly popular.
"You just can't ignore it. It's massive," he said.
"But it's spreading a bit wider" than it should, and car meets are "taking it to another level."
Bridge then suggested resurrecting an old idea to deal with the problem.
"I say get Judith Collins with a bulldozer down to Quay Street on a Saturday night - she can just sweep them up."
He argues it's getting to that point, and soon enough the community will take matters into their own hands.
"You ring 111 and you don't get a response. Police have got so much on their plate. We're going to see many more of the public and communities stepping in."
