Confiscated tourist keys

**zooter** · 21st January 2015, 16:23

Originally Posted by jasonu

Any stats or actual proof to back up this statement?

My bet is the actual percentage amount of foreigner visitor accidents hasn't changed by more than the actual percentage increase of road users or percentage increase of foreigners using NZ roads. Now that in recent times the crap NZ media has found that reporting on all of these incidents is selling more papers, advertising slots etc you will hear about EVERY INCIDENT involving said foreigners weather it is their fault or not.

Actually I misremembered, ODT today puts that 25% figure just for the Queenstown police area. I don't think that covers Te Anau to Milford but would include western side of Lindis pass which does a lot of damage.

**Tazz** · 21st January 2015, 16:45

Originally Posted by jasonu

Any stats or actual proof to back up this statement?

My bet is the actual percentage amount of foreigner visitor accidents hasn't changed by more than the actual percentage increase of road users or percentage increase of foreigners using NZ roads. Now that in recent times the crap NZ media has found that reporting on all of these incidents is selling more papers, advertising slots etc you will hear about EVERY INCIDENT involving said foreigners weather it is their fault or not.

Yeah there was a comment on the article saying why doesn't this happen to boy racers. It fully does, I know of a few cases (and then there are the ones where tyres are let down instead of keys taken...), but yeah, not as 'news worthy'.

Fucking media.

That said, a Chinese dude boarded in the same place as me for the first year of high school and he lost 2 friends (out of 30 or so Chinese at school) that year to crashes that were their fault, and he had an accident that year as well but just a fender bender. They don't do open road driving over there so are terrible at it here.

**Berries** · 21st January 2015, 16:59

Originally Posted by zooter

Actually I misremembered, ODT today puts that 25% figure just for the Queenstown police area. I don't think that covers Te Anau to Milford but would include western side of Lindis pass which does a lot of damage.

The figures that get quoted are for crash involvement not fault so are rather meaningless, simply a reflection that they have a lot of tourists in Queenstown.

Originally Posted by jasonu

My bet is the actual percentage amount of foreigner visitor accidents hasn't changed by more than the actual percentage increase of road users or percentage increase of foreigners using NZ roads.

That has been the case for many years but, without making sweeping generalisations, the Chinese are shit drivers with a completely different mind set and they are coming over here and driving in far greater numbers than ever before. Whereas incidents such as the one in this story were fairly rare five years ago you can almost see it on a daily basis in Queenstown now, it's shocking.

**zooter** · 21st January 2015, 17:48

Originally Posted by Berries

The figures that get quoted are for crash involvement not fault so are rather meaningless, simply a reflection that they have a lot of tourists in Queenstown.

That has been the case for many years but, without making sweeping generalisations, the Chinese are shit drivers with a completely different mind set and they are coming over here and driving in far greater numbers than ever before. Whereas incidents such as the one in this story were fairly rare five years ago you can almost see it on a daily basis in Queenstown now, it's shocking.

Not so. 25% caused by foreigners was what I read. The headline was misleading bullshit though. Something about 83% of crashes involving tourists being fault of the tourist. A good chunk of the bad ones will be tourist on tourist and single vehicle incidents, hard to escape that statistic!

I counted rentals on the Kingston highway one day. It was less than 1/4. Where's your data?

**Berries** · 21st January 2015, 18:05

Originally Posted by zooter

I counted rentals on the Kingston highway one day. It was less than 1/4. Where's your data?

In CAS. I provide the data to the media and the Police so have a pretty good handle on how difficult it is to determine fault using it.

I come back to the important question though. If 25% of drivers are from overseas (which is around your 1/4 seeing as not all rental vehicles are easily identifiable) then it stands to reason that 25% of crashes will be caused by them. If that is the case then there is no problem, just a media feeding frenzy.

Today's paper - Queenstown crash. Was it because he was Dutch, was it because he was driving an unfamiliar vehicle? Was it his age? Had he been on the piss after a round of golf? Who knows. The only guarantee is that it will be counted as a crash caused by an overseas driver and yet does that have any relevance to the actual incident?

**Virago** · 21st January 2015, 18:38

Originally Posted by zooter

...I counted rentals on the Kingston highway one day. It was less than 1/4. Where's your data?

How exactly did you determine which were rentals? Where's your data?

**zooter** · 21st January 2015, 18:50

Originally Posted by Virago

How exactly did you determine which were rentals? Where's your data?

Rentals all used to have their COF sticker under the rear view mirror.

**zooter** · 21st January 2015, 19:00

Originally Posted by Berries

In CAS. I provide the data to the media and the Police so have a pretty good handle on how difficult it is to determine fault using it.

I come back to the important question though. If 25% of drivers are from overseas (which is around your 1/4 seeing as not all rental vehicles are easily identifiable) then it stands to reason that 25% of crashes will be caused by them. If that is the case then there is no problem, just a media feeding frenzy.

Today's paper - Queenstown crash. Was it because he was Dutch, was it because he was driving an unfamiliar vehicle? Was it his age? Had he been on the piss after a round of golf? Who knows. The only guarantee is that it will be counted as a crash caused by an overseas driver and yet does that have any relevance to the actual incident?

What's CAS?

I don't know where ODT get their data, or who interprets it into print. The obviousness of 100% of tourist on tourist and single vehicle crashes involving a tourist at fault indicates foolishness at best, mischief at worst.

I don't have a problem with a visiting Dutch drunk golfer crash being included under "tourist driver" for the "us" vs. "them" breakdown.

I'm certain I read 25% of total was caused by tourists, which is clear cut.

**scumdog** · 21st January 2015, 20:08

Originally Posted by Berries

That has been the case for many years but, without making sweeping generalisations, the Chinese are shit drivers with a completely different mind set and they are coming over here and driving in far greater numbers than ever before. Whereas incidents such as the one in this story were fairly rare five years ago you can almost see it on a daily basis in Queenstown now, it's shocking.

Yep, with tons of 'new wealth' in China we're getting HEAPS more visiting NZ than 8 - 10 years ago, heaps.

And having travelled many miles on Chinese roads and seen their driving I can see why they have a problem driving in NZ.

**Berries** · 21st January 2015, 21:24

Originally Posted by zooter

What's CAS?

The national crash database.

**zooter** · 21st January 2015, 21:33

Originally Posted by Berries

The national crash database.

You go to crash sites to measure data and interpret it, or sit at a desk analysing data that has been already interpreted, or interpret data supplied from flatfoots? I base that question on seeing the SCU on TV where the site investigators follow through from initial investigation to prosecution.

**Berries** · 21st January 2015, 21:45

All three, although I had never considered myself an interpreter before.

Merci beaucoup.

**jasonu** · 22nd January 2015, 17:57

Originally Posted by zooter

You go to crash sites to measure data and interpret it, or sit at a desk analysing data that has been already interpreted, or interpret data supplied from flatfoots? I base that question on seeing the SCU on TV where the site investigators follow through from initial investigation to prosecution.

What's SCU?