MPs get roadsafety lesson
When Sean Roberts was told his dad had died in a car crash caused by a tourist, he wanted to know why New Zealand roads were not safe enough to keep him alive.
The 10-year-old from Geraldine overcame a lot of nerves and seasickness on the ferry to speak to Parliament’s transport select committee in Wellington on Thursday about his idea for keeping people like his father safe on the road.
Grant Roberts, 43, and Dennis Pederson, 54, were riding their motorbikes on Lindis Pass in November 2012 when Chinese student Kejia Zheng hit gravel on the side of the road and overcorrected, crashing into the pair and killing them.
Zheng had arrived in New Zealand only a day earlier and, at the inquest in 2014, it was revealed she probably had less than one month’s driving experience since getting her licence in China and had not driven in 10 months.
Sean started a petition calling for foreign drivers to do compulsory driving test before being allowed to drive on New Zealand roads.
By the beginning of this month, the petition had garnered more than 36,000 signatures online, and thousands more on paper.
Sean was supported at the select committee by his brother Cody, 9, and their mother, Mel Pipson, who was proud that Sean’s determination to do something had triggered a response at a government level.
She said her family was happy with the progress so far addressing the issue of foreign drivers, including a code of best practice initiated by some vehicle-hire companies.
The code provided visitors with more information about New Zealand roads and driving conditions, and better recorded and shared information about visitors’ driving experiences.
‘‘The code of practice was fantastic but, as we discussed at home, we would like to see along with that . . . some kind of competency test,’’ Pipson said.
Sean accepted a driving test for foreigners was out of the question – after advice it was against the Geneva Convention – but suggested some form of instruction was needed, ‘‘even if it was a 10-minute simulator or movie that showed the [road] signs’’.
Pipson said the last year of hard work raising awareness around the issue was all about providing Sean an answer to his question: ‘‘Why can’t we make sure [tourist drivers] are safe?’’
New Zealand Tourism chief executive Kevin Bowler told the committee foreign drivers had become a real problem recently. As a result NZ Tourism was looking to recruit a well-known person to produce an awareness video about Kiwi roads.
Chinese tourists – New Zealand’s biggest tourism market – were spending more time in New Zealand than before and travelling here in increasing numbers.
While Roberts was killed 2 1⁄2 years ago, Pipson said it was
2 the petition that Sean and Cody had launched which had sparked awareness over the last year.
‘‘I don’t think it would have come to that without them speaking out in the first place.’’
After the meeting Sean said he was feeling positive about the outcome and had thought of his dad a lot during the presentation. He was confident he would have been proud of him.
‘‘It’s definitely worth it.’’
The uncle of a 5-year-old girl killed by a foreign driver says moves by rental car companies to increase driver screening and education should become mandatory for all operators.
Leaders from 25 rental car companies, representing the majority of cars and campervans hired to visitors, agreed to develop a code of best practice after discussing concerns about tourist drivers at a meeting in Auckland on Monday.
Public calls to regulate tourist driving have increased following a series of fatal and serious crashes involving foreign drivers over summer.
The code would ensure rental companies gave visitors more information about New Zealand driving conditions, increased screening of a visitor’s driving experience when they hired a vehicle, and shared information when a visitor’s contract was cancelled.
Chris Cant’s 5-year-old niece Ruby Marris died in a crash caused by a Chinese tourist near Moeraki on February 21.
‘‘We’ve got to applaud the rental car industry for taking some ownership of the problem – at least they’re willing to address it,’’ he said.
He urged Associate Transport Minister Craig Foss to take the code a step further and make it mandatory for all operators.
‘‘We don’t want any more carnage. We don’t need any more pain and suffering to families like mine . . . it’s pretty terrible stuff and it’s totally preventable,’’ Cant said.
Tania Summerfield, who lost her niece and sister-in-law in a crash caused by a Dutch visitor, said she did not think the code went far enough.
Johannes Appelman was driving a rental car when he ran a stop sign near Rakaia and crashed into the side of a vehicle being driven by her brother in June.
The crash seriously injured Shane Summerfield and killed his wife Sally, 49, their daughter Ella, 12, and Ella’s friend Abi Hone, also 12. Appelman had crashed another rental car the previous night, but was able to hire another car from a different company.
Tania Summerfield said it was good that rental companies were taking action, but the code would not be enough to make a difference.
‘‘It also doesn’t look compulsory or universal. [There’s] also no information that I can see [regarding] fatigue,’’ she said. ‘‘[It’s] not enough but a good start.’’
British visitor Paul Whitmell, 57, was discharged from Dunedin Hospital on Wednesday, three weeks after his car was hit by a Chinese tourist near Queenstown – the same day as the crash that killed Ruby. His wife Rosie, 54, was discharged from Southland Hospital about a week ago.
He said he was thrilled New Zealand rental car companies were listening to the concerns of people like him and the Marris family, who met while in Dunedin Hospital.
‘‘I’m absolutely overjoyed at the news. It’s a damn pity that they couldn’t done it years ago though.’’
‘‘We just hope the rest of the rental car companies follow the lead . . . and put lives first, rather than putting money first,’’ Paul Whitmell said.
Rental Vehicle Association (RVA) chief executive Barry Kidd said those at Monday’s meeting recognised the sector needed to take more action.
Foss said he had asked the Ministry of Transport to consider how the Government could assist the code’s development and implementation.