Grieving mum wants foreign driver tests

The grieving parents of a man killed in an accident with a foreign driver have told a parliamentary select committee that the Government could do more to keep accidents from happening.

Judy Richards and Mike Middleton lost their son Rhys, 23, in February on State Highway 5 north of Napier.

Chinese national Jieling Xiao, 27, drove her Toyota Rav 4 completely off the road before suddenly veering back directly into the path of Middleton’s motorbike, which had been travelling behind her.

‘‘She threw him 100, 150 metres down the road. Snapped his neck at the base of his skull. Split his bronchial tube, so his lungs filled up with blood.

‘‘He had 13 injuries and any one of them would have killed him,’’ a tearful Richards told the transport and industrial relations select committee yesterday.

She was in Parliament to submit on a petition bearing the signatures of more than 8500 people calling for driving licence tests for any visitors on a visa longer than three months.

Currently, anyone in the country longer than 12 months who wants to drive is required to ‘‘convert’’ their driver’s licence into a New Zealand one – a process that often involves a practical test.

But those here for 12 months or less can use their licence from another country without having to sit any kind of exam.

Xiao, who was later convicted of dangerous driving causing death, was in New Zealand on a 12-month visa and was allowed to drive as she held a Chinese driving licence.

It later emerged she had never driven faster than 50kmh as most of her driving had been in cities.

She was sentenced to 17 months in prison but was instead deported home to China.

Richards said New Zealand needed to equip overseas visitors with the tools to drive in New Zealand.

‘‘There’s been all these questions of ‘how are we going to do this’ and ‘what’s the cost?’ but I mean what’s the cost of a life?’’

She also called for tourists wanting to rent a car to be given a quick 12-minute scratchie test about our road rules or possibly a two-minute practical test.

‘‘A few years ago there was a rental car guy who walked off the site because he had hired a car to a guy who couldn’t even drive the car out of the driveway.

‘‘My aim was to open a debate on how we can curb so much damage on our roads,’’ Richards said.

‘‘It’s not only keeping New Zealanders safe it’s also keeping [foreign drivers] safe. I don’t want anyone to go through what I’ve been through.’’

‘‘If I can save someone else’s family, then my job is done.’’

The select committee will hear from the Ministry of Transport before presenting the petition to Parliament before the election.

Ministry of Transport statistics put the number of fatal crashes caused by overseas drivers at about 6 per cent.

In 2016, 25 people died in crashes where a foreign driver was found to be at fault.