Air NZ to give tourists driving tips

Passengers flying on Air New Zealand will soon get road safety tips before touching down on our soil.

The airline yesterday announced the release of two in-flight initiatives on international flights to help visitors understand the local road rules.

The Driving in New Zealand app will be available on the airline’s inflight entertainment system, pointing out road rules, tips for driving locally and information about conditions.

The app was developed in association with the NZ Transport Agency and was to be launched on flights next month.

It will initially launch in English but additional languages will be added.

The second initiative is a series of short videos highlighting New Zealand road rules and giving an in-depth guide to driving here.

The videos were developed by Kiwi travel app CamperMate and will also be available via Air New Zealand’s in-flight entertainment system in English, Chinese, French and German.

Air NZ head Christopher Luxon said it was important to provide such tools to visitors in order to improve safety on the roads.

Air New Zealand’s announcement for such initiatives follows 10 serious accidents this year involving tourists, including one that claimed the life of a 5-year-old Oamaru girl, Ruby Marris.

Queenstown rental car company Wai Hire Cars has also launched an app to test the skills of foreign drivers before they hire their vehicles.

A code of practice was finalised this month to better screen and educate tourist drivers before they hire a vehicle in New Zealand.