Ricky Wilson / Stuff
A radio-controlled car in action. (File photo)
Bickering over the tiny tires of remote-controlled cars isn’t the kind of problem the high-ranking Supreme Court usually grapples with.
But racing enthusiast Kevin Frewer was so hampered by a rule of the Canterbury Radio Control Car Club that he filed for a judicial review of the club’s decisions in the Supreme Court.
Frewer got into an argument with his club over the rule that the tires on the cars he raced – the GT class in one-eighth scale – must be made of rubber.
The Supreme Court hearing took place in Christchurch in June.
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Two partners from law firms from the big city, along with a lawyer and a senior lawyer, represented the warring parties.
According to court documents, Frewer launched its foam tire campaign for its car class in 2019. He considered them cheaper and more versatile.
RICKY WILSON/STUFF
Radio-controlled cars in action. (File photo)
After setting up a Facebook page dedicated to the case, he contacted the club several times in an effort to change the rules, some through his lawyers.
Things escalated when the club asked him to sign a document agreeing to the terms before renewing his membership. This requirement was later reversed.
Frewer is a long-standing member of the club, which he co-founded in 1975.
Judge Rachel Dunningham noted in her Supreme Court ruling that despite a national measure to lift a ban on foam tires for GT-class cars on the eighth scale, a subsequent vote at Frewer’s club was not to his liking.
“It appears there will be some distaste for Mr Frewer’s fervent promotion of foam tires by then,” Judge Dunningham said in her verdict.
“Mr Frewer acknowledges that an influential driver had said to other drivers, ‘If it turns into foam, I’ll give up’.
About 150 participants will race their radio-controlled cars during the National Championships on a new track (first published in March 2021).
“Mr Frewer also started getting comments on his Facebook page saying things like he was “ramming people down the throat”.
The judge rejected Frewer’s request for a judicial review.
She was direct in her 22-page decision.
“…I believe that the issue is not clearly of such importance as to justify intervention by the Court,” the judgment said.
“It involves a relatively trivial dispute over the parameters of entry into a particular class of hobby racing.
“Mr. Frewer can still race in that class, albeit with rubber tires… He can still argue for foam tires as an option.”