New Zealand
NZ police: Educate tourist drivers
More education for tourists driving on New Zealand roads is needed to prevent serious and fatal crashes, police say.
"We don't want them going home in a wooden box," Sergeant Geoff Sutherland, head of the Southland police highway patrol, told The New Zealand Herald.
"We certainly don't want them causing any more harm for any of us on the roads."
Mr Sutherland said one idea was to give all tourists renting vehicles standard driving guidelines.
"These tourists pretty much arrive in the country and within minutes they have got a rental car and they are on their way."
The call follows several incidents involving tourists over the past week.
On Tuesday last week, German cyclist Mia Susanne Pusch was killed in a collision with a truck and trailer travelling the same direction collided in a passing zone about 4km north of Bulls, in Manawatu.
In the South Island, police say they have warned tourists to slow down around spots like Queenstown and Milford Sound, handing out dozens of speeding tickets.
One was caught driving at 151kmh, and many others at more than 140kph.
National road policing manager Superintendent Paula Rose said road safety messages for tourists was a major focus ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Comments
Post new comment