Relatives want action over crashes by foreign drivers

Relatives of Kiwi victims killed by foreign drivers say they are horrified to see the body count mounting, as another foreign driver is charged in relation to the deaths of two people.

Tauranga man Mike Middleton, whose son, Rhys, was killed by a Chinese driver on the Napier-Taupo road last year, said the Government seemed determined to do nothing about the problem.

A 63-year-old American driver was charged in Nelson yesterday on two counts of careless driving causing death and four charges of careless driving causing injury in a horror crash on Monday.

A car towing a caravan and a truck carrying scaffolding collided in the crash, which also involved a fourwheel-drive. Two people were killed and four seriously injured.

Middleton said he had “given up on the whole thing”.

“The Government is not going to do anything about it and I’m just going to sit back and watch the body count grow every year,” he said.

Rhys’ mother, Judy Richards, who gathered almost 9000 signatures on a petition to Parliament last month asking for foreign drivers to get full New Zealand driver’s licences if they stayed more than three months, said she still hoped the petition would lead to changes.

“We are waiting for the select committee. I have to go back to Parliament for that, I think in about six months,” Richards said.

She suggested that companies renting cars to foreigners should pro- vide a card with the meaning of key road signs and road rules “and give them a little 10-minute test to say, ‘do you understand’?”

She said New Zealand could adopt a Canadian law banning all drivers, foreign or domestic, from driving within 24 hours of getting off a longhaul flight.

Another change could be to require a New Zealand driver’s licence to buy a car in this country.

Police have named one of the two people who died in the Nelson crash as Stephen Anthony Jayes, 41, of Nelson.

Associate Transport Minister David Bennett said the Government was working hard to reduce all crashes on our roads, including those involving drivers from overseas, and recognised the concerns many New Zealanders have.

“We are not looking at introducing specific plates or licences for visitors at this time because they simply aren’t as straightforward or effective as they may appear,” Bennett said.

“There is no silver bullet. It takes a range of organisations working together to improve road safety.

“That’s why we’re spending billions to improve difficult roads and make them safer, like widening lanes and installing barriers.

“We’re also working with local government and the private sector like airlines and rental companies to provide clear information in a range of languages about our roads and rules at every stage of a visitor’s trip from planning [through to] arrival.

“The latest [Ministry of Transport] statistics show overseas drivers were at fault in less than 5 per cent of fatal and injury crashes on our roads from 2011 to 2015.

“Despite media reporting and public perception, the numbers of crashes involving overseas licence holders has stayed relatively constant over the last 10 years. At the same time the number of international visitors coming to New Zealand has increased by about 30 per cent.”

The Ministry of Transport report found that 6 per cent of fatal and injury crashes between 2011 and 2015 involved an overseas licence holder.

During the same period, 4 per cent of all drivers involved in crashes were overseas licence holders.