6 March 2008
Boy-racers, road closures, and "public disorder"
> ThePress: "Mayor's car ban aims to foil boy racers"
I continue to have concerns about the use of executive power by Mayor Parker to temporarily close roads, in order to address problems arising from boy-racers. The use of the power continues to be unorthodox and potentially unlawful. I've previously discussed some of the issues that arise:
> LAWS179: "Boy-racers and executive road closures"
Of course, central to this determination is the assessment or judgement about whether "public disorder ... is anticipated". Obviously this involves an on-the-ground factual assessment. It may be the possibility of conflict this weekend would satisfy that criterion - I don't have a sense of the history of conflict involved with the one-off event. However, I'm more concerned about suggestions that such a ban could be used on a routine basis to address the purported "annoyance" caused by boy-racers. In my view, it is unlikely that these concerns rise to the level of public disorder required to close a road.
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That stretch of Oxford Tce should probably be permanently closed to all vehicles except taxis. It's no help getting from A to B, it's mainly just a thoroughfare for picking people up from the adjacent bars, restaurants and shops and in the evenings it is a zoo.
On the other hand, the suggestion of closing a major arterial route out of the city like Moorhouse Ave is just astonishing, perhaps a bit like closing Taranaki St because the nightlife on Courtenay Pl had gotten a bit lively (well actually it doesn't make quite that much sense because it is already a bit out of town). Of course the Police wisely decided against this option.
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