European drivers worst in statistics

Europeans with international licences are involved in more crashes in South Canterbury than any other ethnicity.

There were 418 crashes involving European drivers in the district in the past 31⁄ years, followed by 31 involving Asian drivers. There were 41 involving Maori drivers, four involving Samoans and two Pacific Islanders. There were 43 cases where the ethnicity of the driver was not known.

The figures have been supplied by the NZ Transport Agency but it is not known how many drivers of each ethnicity there were.

An agency spokesperson said it was important to note that information on crash records did not stipulate whether a person involved in a crash while driving on an overseas licence was a tourist or a new resident or migrant.

‘‘So we can’t say that all crashes and casualties listed . . . are tourist drivers, only that they are drivers using an overseas licence.’’