Testing times for tourist drivers

Arriving back in New Zealand after a whirlwind trip to America to ride Harley’s latest touring models I was saddened to read of yet another tourist getting off relatively lightly for killing a Kiwi on our roads.

There doesn’t appear to be a solution to the problem of tourist drivers being out of their depth on our roads.

Adapting to driving on the other side of the road is a challenge. Earlier this year in Italy driving Maserati’s Levante SUV I terrified my Australian driving partner with my lane placement. Though I never crossed the centre line, my driving skills were nowhere near where I would have liked for Italian roads.

However, this past week in America, lane placement wasn’t the issue, it was the vastly different road signs and road rules. LIST WITH DRIVEN Go to Driven. co. nz to find your new vehicle. You can choose from almost 27,000 vehicles listed for MATHIEU DAY

There are many differences between road rules around the world, and though many signs are standardised, road markings are far from it. Here we have double yellow lines signalling a stop on the road; in America they use a single white line. Give way signs are called Yield, and you can turn right across an intersection on a red light if no cars are coming .

The public are calling for tourist drivers to have a better education on New Zealand road rules but the Government refuses sensible ideas for fear of Kiwis having to undergo the same when we travel.

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