By Anna Burns-Francis
It must be a boy-racer's nightmare: watching his car, hotted up, lowered down, pride and joy being crushed into a block of metal.
The law for badly behaved boy racers has been on the books for two years - but the first crushing blow has just been ordered.
There is not a lot left of Karn Forrest’s 1982 Toyota Corolla, but what there is, won't be around for much longer.
A judge has ordered the vehicle to be crushed after the Milton boy-racer was caught doing donuts for the third time.
“They're a problem in the community. In our district we've had people injured and killed through illegal street racing activities,” says senior sergeant Steve Larking of Dunedin Police.
The law was promoted by former Police Minister Judith “Crusher” Collins.
“It's sad in a way because it means the young man hasn't learnt his lesson. He hasn't taken notice clearly of the two warnings he's already had,” she says.
But not everyone is convinced that crushing the car will deter the boy racers.
“Yeah good luck with that, it's only making him cooler,” says motoring expert Clive Matthew-Wilson.
Forrest, a disqualified driver, could still salvage what is left of the vehicle before its impounded and taken to Dunedin.
But that is not worrying Ms Collins.
“I think it's probably going to save somebody's life, frankly, a car of this lack of quality being crushed.”
Eighty-six other people around the country are on their second warning, meaning they are just one more donut away from losing their car too.
Crusher Collins must be hoping the next one at least has an engine.
3 News