Tourists driving in the South Island

[oldrider]

There's nothing spreading anywhere. Just the misinformation that Tourists are more dangerous on NZ roads than the local crowd of clowns. I see the same stuff from Kiwis every time I drive or ride. It's unremarkable and completely accepted. The current tourist driver bashing is just racist socially acceptable violence that will have the effect of having our current rights to drive in other countries removed in response to our terrible driving standards and vigilante attitude.

The vast majority of road deaths and injuries are caused by your Mum, Dad, Sister, Brother, Cousin, Granddad and yourself. Tourists are the least of my worries statistically. I more scared of the giant cluster of idiots in the middle of the bell curve who live here and all think they are excellent drivers and riders.

Well JD we are so on the same page on this one!

[Tazz]

There's nothing spreading anywhere. Just the misinformation that Tourists are more dangerous on NZ roads than the local crowd of clowns. I see the same stuff from Kiwis every time I drive or ride. It's unremarkable and completely accepted. The current tourist driver bashing is just racist socially acceptable violence that will have the effect of having our current rights to drive in other countries removed in response to our terrible driving standards and vigilante attitude.

The vast majority of road deaths and injuries are caused by your Mum, Dad, Sister, Brother, Cousin, Granddad and yourself. Tourists are the least of my worries statistically. I more scared of the giant cluster of idiots in the middle of the bell curve who live here and all think they are excellent drivers and riders.

Well said. Where are the daily updates on all the accidents caused by us locals? I just saw a close call on the pedestrian crossing outside involving a local businesses sign written car. Driver might only be first generation NZ. Front page material?

Good to see another article where half of the content is there for the word count/pay cheque. Consistency and all that.

[Tazz]

Whats with all the trucks being involved in so many accidents???

The drivers are shit, not equipped to deal with our road conditions with 55+ tons on the back and need more license retests (1 a year?) to prove they are up to driving to our conditions
Look at how they made a whole section of road in Kaikoura 80 because truckies were dumb enough to keep on driving off the road. Don't know how all those inept tourists were making it through fine....

If it is expected of all tourists and the tests are brought in I hope they do the same for the rest of us. I don't disagree completely that some tourists from particular countries are pretty rough on the driving skills, but still don't really want that to happen. We'd be better off for it though (so long as the testing is thorough) and I bet a plenty of those jumping on this bandwagon wouldn't make the cut.

[James Deuce]

We'd be better off for it though (so long as the testing is thorough) and I bet a plenty of those jumping on this bandwagon wouldn't make the cut.

Started the cycling education for the kids and am surprised at how rusty I am at the road code stuff. It is a good refresher.

[Paul in NZ]

Started the cycling education for the kids and am surprised at how rusty I am at the road code stuff. It is a good refresher.

No education required - buy them some lycra and teach them to scream and swear and pull the fingers at everyone, job done...

[Reckless]

Here's another one that might upset James

http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/6686....post.66864433

[James Deuce]

Why would I be "upset"?

He should be charged with assault and potentially conversion.

[oldrider]

Why would I be "upset"?

He should be charged with assault and potentially conversion.

Same page again JD!

[Reckless]

Why would I be "upset"?

He should be charged with assault and potentially conversion.

Just pullin your chain mate :P Don't agree what he did in that situation either.

My personal opinion is tourists should be encouraged to this country not discouraged.
But I don't quite buy into this if we test them they have to test us thing.
Our roads are different and arent we trying to protect them as much as us??

Depends what you mean by "test"
I cant see why there can't be a paper test? A practical is OTT and would just deter visitors, start a revenue stream for the testers and should have been done in their country.
A simple multiple choice where they can study and pick the answers would suffice.
This should be done at Licence issue and in NZ?
As I have stated before my missus had a foreign student homestay who got a full NZ licence and admitted she had never ever driven a car.
She only had what she called "a Japanese paper licence" that shit also has to stop??

What does a stop sign look like?
What side of the road do we travel on?
Where do you stop on the open road before making a right hand turn?
NZTA should have the stats on what has been causing the accidents to set the test up.

If other countries do it in return its probably only going to be shit we should have known before we get behind the wheel over there anyway.

Keep it simple, quick and to the point.

I know it wont stop the brain fade but at least they have checked out the signage, be aware of the basic's and be thinking of what they learned while driving?

[Virago]

This one must be an awesome driver to be able to drive that fast. Perhaps there was a different reason his father was shitting his pants.

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-st...ing-at-178kmh/

[James Deuce]

This one must be an awesome driver to be able to drive that fast. Perhaps there was a different reason his father was shitting his pants.

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-st...ing-at-178kmh/

Saw that and thought, "Must try harder".

[MD]

The media talked up how bad the driving was by the Franz Josef Asian driver who had his keys seized. When I watched the so called incriminating dash cam footage it was more like annoying driving. Far from horrific, death to all within a hundred mile radius dangerous driving. His right wheels were 1 to 3 ft at worse over the centre line, and although on bends, they were mild curves, not the sharp blind curves that give less than 2 seconds head on warning. Don't get me wrong, I'm not apologising for him, I curse all who cross the centreline.

What did annoy me about that driver was each time he saw cars coming head on at him, instead of instantly correcting his mistake [like a normal courteous person would] he just took his merry time and slowly meandered back to the left side. For that display of inconsiderate arrogance and being a lazy prick I say seize his keys.

However, the picture on Stuff today (03/03/15) of the white car and Asian man and woman taking photos on a narrow Otago road justifies vigilantism. Again, not so much that it looks like a dangerous spot to stop. It actually looks a reasonable straight bit of road i.e. good visibility. What PISSES me off is that the driver, yet again an arrogant Asian, is too stupid and/or lazy to position his car as far left as possible and try and display an ounce of courtesy to other road users. He just stops in the middle of the lane, no effort to pull over what so ever! The arrogance to assume everyone else using the road can just bloody well stop and wait until he's good and ready to recommence his journey. To make matters worse his drop kick Missus is standing in the other lane blocking anyone coming the other way or trying to go around his stupidly parked car! We are tourists and therefore everyone can grind to a halt, cease all activity on this road until we take some pretty pictures.

What ever happened to good manners and courtesy? It's a lack of these attributes that leads to dangerous driving. I blame the digital era for making people so self absorbed.

[Tazz]

Just pullin your chain mate :P Don't agree what he did in that situation either.

My personal opinion is tourists should be encouraged to this country not discouraged.
But I don't quite buy into this if we test them they have to test us thing.
Our roads are different and arent we trying to protect them as much as us??

Depends what you mean by "test"
I cant see why there can't be a paper test? A practical is OTT and would just deter visitors, start a revenue stream for the testers and should have been done in their country.
A simple multiple choice where they can study and pick the answers would suffice.
This should be done at Licence issue and in NZ?
As I have stated before my missus had a foreign student homestay who got a full NZ licence and admitted she had never ever driven a car.
She only had what she called "a Japanese paper licence" that shit also has to stop??

What does a stop sign look like?
What side of the road do we travel on?
Where do you stop on the open road before making a right hand turn?
NZTA should have the stats on what has been causing the accidents to set the test up.

If other countries do it in return its probably only going to be shit we should have known before we get behind the wheel over there anyway.

Keep it simple, quick and to the point.

I know it wont stop the brain fade but at least they have checked out the signage, be aware of the basic's and be thinking of what they learned while driving?

They're really quite universal. The lines in the intersection below are also quite universal. The fact it is an intersection (duh) and has a sign is a dead ringer for a potential stopping situation for any driver you'd hope, but some people are thick or make a mistake. Just so happens if they are here and on holiday it will make the paper. Even my dad who has been in NZ for 40+ years blew through one the day due to inattention. Luckily it didn't result in an accident although he did receive some minor bruising from the passenger and was a massive wake up call. Unfortunately he is one of the locals who probably thinks he is much better behind the wheel than he is and doesn't like tourists either due to all the hype.

The 'paper' licenses are BS. They need to be stopped but I'm sure things will be in motion. Politicians, law makers and the fuzz are clamping down on more and more each year to keep busy

Remember the massive uproar about how (before the loophole was closed) we could get a license in Raro and transfer it straight to a full bike one here in NZ?
Yeah, me either, funny that

[Moi]

OK, the driver of the white car on the Otago peninsula had not parked as well as he could have, so what? It is not clear from the photograph in the media if there is a wide shoulder beyond the fog line and so it may not have been possible to pullover any further. There are many NZ drivers who couldn't parked any better than that! The driver who took his keys - why was he unable to slowly drive pass the parked car? OK, the other driver's partner/wife was standing in the opposing lane, but surely she'd have moved aside if he had approached at a slow and sensible speed?

Is that road any narrower than some round the hill suburbs of Wellington? I doubt if it is and Wellingtonians seem to be able to drive round those roads quite well and pass parked cars as well.

I have just completed 2000km riding round the western side of the North Island and in that distance the drivers who gave us - mate and myself - the greatest grief on the road were locals! How do I know they were locals? - how many tourists rent 5+ year old Falcons with towbars? = he tailgated less than two car length behind at about 95km/h and then overtook at speed well over 30km/h in a 30km/h temporary zone. How many tourists drive cars with local and national company names signwritten along the sides? - again tailgating and unable to overtake by moving to the opposing lane, no just push past half in our lane or overtake and then brake to turn at the next road. How many tourists drive 4x4 utes with trailers = tailgating and cutting across the centre line on curves where visibility was reduced and a prudent rider/driver would be over to the left on right-handers as far as practical to maximise view ahead.

I'd suggest that some of these drivers who are taking keys from "bad foreign drivers" are possibly looking for their 15 minutes of fame and the media is certainly assisting them or they should seriously look at their own driving standards and abilities - something about throwing stones and glasshouses. Having just watched the report on the news of the Otago incident - the NZ driver said he'd come round the corner and could only just stop in time - admittedly it is a road with a maximum speed of 80km/h [perhaps that needs to be addressed?] - but what about being able to stop in half the clear distance ahead? Perhaps he needs to think about his own driving.

Just my tuppence worth...

[Virago]

The Otago Peninsula is a mecca for tourists. Locals know that there is going to be a road-maggot around every (countless) corner. Both the lower road (Portobello Road) and high road (Highcliff Road) are narrow and twisty, with stunning views. In particular, Highcliiff Rd is very challenging.

Understandably, these roads are also a mecca for local bikers, and every local rider has their own stories of near misses. I myself have been forced to within a few cm of a deep ditch by Asians in a campervan, driving serenely straight down the middle on the road, with no intention of moving left. I almost shat myself.

My father-in-law was a victim of some middle-of-the-road photo takers in Central Otago. Driving over a blind brow (with double yellow lines), he came upon a car parked smack in the middle of the lane, all four doors open, with the overseas occupants all 50 metres away taking photos of the Clutha River. With oncoming traffic there was no way round the car, so my father-in-law attempted to go down the left side. Emergency braking did not quite stop him (a trailer on the back didn't help), and he clipped the left rear of the car. The real pisser is that father-in-law was held liable for the accident (failing to stop short blah blah).

I know of only two accidents my father-in-law had in the 35 years I knew him. Both were caused by overseas tourists.

They are out there, and it's getting worse.