The City of Wolverhampton Council, which in 2014 secured a ground breaking High Court injunction banning car cruising across the Black Country, is carrying out a survey to evaluate the extent of the issue.
The outcome will form the basis of a feasibility study to find out whether there is an appetite to tackle the problem outside of the West Midlands - and how this could be done.
The survey asks people whether they are aware of the Black Country injunction, whether they support it and how they think the authorities should tackle the issue of car cruising in the future.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: "The Black Country injunction prohibits people from taking part in, or publicising, a car cruise anywhere within Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell or Walsall – and it has been hugely successful, eliminating the problem altogether in some places.
"Indeed, it has worked so well that other areas, including Birmingham and Solihull, now have injunctions of their own. But this is only a regional solution – we want to see whether it might be possible to tackle the issue at a national level.”
Councillor Paula Brookfield, Cabinet Member for Governance, added: "We know that car cruising is not confined to the Black Country or the West Midlands, and we also know that the High Court is unlikely to continue to renew the injunction every 3 years as is currently the case – it will either decide the injunction has proven successful and is no longer required, or, that with the best will in the world, it is impossible to eradicate car cruising and therefore it's not proportionate to maintain the injunction.
"That's why we want to work with our partners and other stakeholders to find a permanent nationwide solution to car cruising."
To complete the survey, please visit Consultation Hub. The closing date for responses is midnight on Tuesday 4 August, 2020.
The Black Country wide injunction, secured by the City of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall councils and West Midlands Police, defines car cruising as:
- 2 or more motor vehicles (including motorbikes) between the hours of 3pm and 7am being on a highway or in a publicly accessible place within the Black Country at which any such vehicle or occupant of a vehicle performs any of the prohibited activities listed below which causes, or is capable of causing, any of the prohibited consequences set out below. Participating in car cruising means being the driver of, or being carried in (or on), a motor vehicle (including motorbikes) in circumstances in which the above applies.
The prohibited activities referred to above are:
- speeding; driving in convoy; racing; performing stunts; sounding horns or playing music as to cause a significant public nuisance; using foul or abusive language; using threatening, intimidating behaviour towards another person; causing obstruction on a public highway, whether moving or stationary.
The prohibited consequences referred to above are:
- excessive noise; danger or risk of injury to road users, including pedestrians; damage or significant risk of damage to property; significant risk of harm; significant public nuisance; significant annoyance to the public.
For more information, please visit Car cruising injunction. Incidents of car cruising should be reported to West Midlands Police on 101. In an emergency, always dial 999.
