“Boy Racers” – 2009

10 February, 2009

The Editor, The Dominion Post, 40 Boulcott St., PO Box 3740, Wellington

Dear Editor:

What appeals to the “boy racers”?  Speed, control, vanity.  Where do they get this?  Well, have a closer look at what the car ads on TV appeal to – power, control, vanity – not a lot of difference, really.

Cars are a national obsession, quite beyond their utility as transport.  The effects of this obsession can be seen in the push for continuing dominance of roading systems benefiting the individual car over public transport.

Within the National government’s so-called economic stimulus package this dominance is evident in their proposed changes to the Resource Management Act.  These changes were essentially proposed long before the credit crisis and will use the crisis to fast track roading projects instead of a much enhanced public transport system which is needed to help bring about the change necessary to build a sustainable nation in a world of peak oil and human induced climate change.

This aggressive road building mentality poses a far greater threat than a few so-called boy racers.  If the government could instead reign in this obsession then likely the boy racer problem would take care of itself.

Sincerely,  Richard Keller

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