Christchurch, New Zealand’s second largest city has been shown to be the country’s safest. Christchurch has recorded 100 violent offenses per 10,000 population – lower than Wellington, Auckland, South Auckland, Hamilton and Dunedin. Interestingly, this doesn’t fit with the public perception. The 2008 Quality of Life survey released earlier this week compared 12 New Zealand cities and found Christchurch had the lowest number of residents who felt safe in the city center after dark.

Police Christchurch Central Area Controller Inspector Derek Erasmus told Stuff.co.nz that the media was to blame; Incidents of serious violence were highlighted by local media, yet there were fewer than in other New Zealand cities. Erasmus said that the media had a big influence on peoples fear, which was “disappointing given that reality does not support these fears.”

None of this however seems to be deterring Police Minister Judith “Crusher” Collins, who has been pushing new legislation to allow police to crush the cars of “boy racers” This moral crusade has been going on since two months ago, following a German television show depicting the city as “beset by hordes of boy racers.” and subsequent coverage and commentary in the local media.

The New Zealand Herald notes that “The previous Government tightened laws on boy racers but they seem to have done little to curb the problems of noise and dangerous driving.” even if the new governments legislation takes cars of the road, there will always be a moral panic about something so long as the media remains focused on sensationalism over substance.