A new Christchurch traffic light trial is underway in a bid to reduce noise from boy racers.
Local residents of one of the city's busiest streets have welcomed the trial happening Thursday night.
By day, Bealey Ave is picturesque, but when night falls it's a loud scene.
"Usually the noise will start about 9:30pm, and will go on to about 3am in the morning," says Janice Stanbury from the Bella Vista Motel.
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Boy racers driving their modified cars speed up to the lights and line up, revving their engines before they race off to the next set of lights - keeping everyone in the vicinity awake.
"Part of the reason they like to come round the area is because they can line up together, and then stop and start, and rev the cars up, yell out the windows, talking to each other," says Ms Stanbury.
Police have responded to 34 complaints of antisocial behaviour and driving along the busy avenue.
On Thursday, authorities came up with a plan to keep the cars moving - giving the boy racers the green light.
"The lights will simply be phased, so that if cars are traveling at 50km along that route, they shouldn't be stopping and starting," says Christchurch City Council's head of transport Richard Osborne.
"They will just get what's called a green wave the whole way through."
The three month trial will be closely monitored by police and the council.
"What we are potentially mindful of is that we don't want that to turn into a racing track either, so we certainly will be enforcing the speed limits rigorously," says area commander Superintendent Lane Todd.
"So it won't be open slather just in terms of having the green lights."
If it works, light phasing will become permanent and used in other boy racing hot spots.
Newshub.
