One of the cars impounded on Saturday night. Photo: NZ Police / Supplied
Hundreds of people gathering for an illegal street racing event in Hawke's Bay were caught in a police crackdown on Saturday night, with some responding by setting off fireworks in their direction.
Dozens of infringements were handed out as 200 vehicles were stopped. Nine cars were impounded. A number of drivers were over the legal breath alcohol or blood alcohol level and summonsed to court, and some were arrested.
Road policing manager Inspector Angela Hallett said police worked in collaboration with Fire and Emergency NZ, Hato Hone St John, Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency and local councils as calls about the group's behaviour flooded in.
"Police received over 30 calls for service in relation to illegal street racing and traffic offending overnight and had a heavy enforcement presence throughout the night.
"The driving behaviour is unsafe and puts the participants and other motorists at risk and damages the roads.
"There is also a real risk for police to be targeted while responding to reports of anti-social driving, and staff from across [the eastern region] and specialist personnel from Waikato, Central Auckland, the Bay of Plenty and Wellington were deployed to assist.
"Fireworks were used by this group against law enforcement during their activity."
Hallett said the police's priority was to keep the public safe.
"We do not tolerate drivers doing burnouts as they cause immense damage to our roads, and risk the lives of themselves and innocent members of the public on the road,"
"As a region, Hawke's Bay has been through a lot after Cyclone Gabrielle, and a lot of our roading network is still recovering," Hallett said.
A group of approximately 200 vehicles participating were stopped, and over the course of the evening, drivers breaching their licence conditions were held to account and asked to have appropriate licenced persons come to pick them up.
Vehicles were checked for compliance, and all drivers were breath-tested. Police were still collating the results of the evening; however, dozens of people were in breach of licensing conditions, some were committing other offences and nine vehicles were impounded.
"Our disruption activities last night put a stop to the dangerous driving behaviour of those involved.
"Police are reviewing footage of the activity [over] the weekend to identify the vehicles and people that were involved to hold them to account swiftly.
"Police across Hawke's Bay will continue our efforts to keep roads safe from anti-social road user behaviours in the lead-up to and during the holiday period."
*This story was first published on Hawkes Bay Today via The Herald.