Police have slapped a group of people with fines after they did burnouts in an Auckland tunnel in an early morning burnout blast.
Auckland motorway manager Senior Sergeant Scott Cunningham said the group of five entered the Waterview Tunnel at about 1:30am on October 5 and were doing manoeuvres involving burnouts.
Snr Sgt Cunningham said the vehicle involved was "quickly" identified by police and was impounded for "sustained loss of traction" - better known as skids or burnouts.
"The driver has been summonsed for loss of traction and reckless driving and all five individuals received infringements."
He said a raft of resources and tools, including the Police Eagle helicopter, as well as the Joint Transport Operations Centre, were used to hold the offenders to account.
Snr Sgt Cunningham said the driving created a blanket of smoke within the tunnel, which "quickly became a visibility issue and potential fire hazard".
“We are going to hold them responsible for what is clearly idiotic behaviour."
He doubled down on the behaviour, saying their driving put other road users' "lives at risk" whilst "driving in such an irresponsible manner and using public roads as their own playground".
"Police is committed to keeping people safe on our roads and individuals who are responsible for burnouts are clearly not considering the safety of other road users."
A 20-year-old man is due to appear in the Auckland District Court on Thursday charged with operating a motor vehicle causing a sustained loss of traction.
A spokesperson for Waka Kotahi said the the Waterview Tunnel Join Operation team was "quickly alerted" to the burnouts via CCTV and was able to provide police with real time information.
The Waterview Incident Response Crew also attended with their vehicles to assist with protecting the emergency services in the live lanes.
"This was an excellent display of different agencies working together, which brought a serious and dangerous incident to a safe conclusion," a Waka Kotahi spokesperson said.
