WATCH OUT T for Tourist

Posted on 06/02/2016 | About New Zealand

Residents of New Zealand are fearful. Not of any of the spiders that bite; the katipo, the redback or the white-tailed varieties. No, they may cause physical reactions, but they aren’t usually deadly. And even though the island is a hotspot for great white sharks, that doesn’t seem to be an issue because fatal shark attacks are rare. What New Zealanders are afraid of is more menacing than their wildlife. It’s the tourist with a driver’s license.

Visitors to New Zealand have a high rate of automobile collisions. There are a number of factors that could account for that; jet-lagged visitors attempting long road trips, different signage from what tourists are used to, the distracting scenery of mountainous terrain or narrow winding highways. How about the fact that they drive on the left side of the road?

New Zealand Transport Agency shows that foreign drivers contribute to six percent of all crashes resulting in injury or death, despite tourists making up just 1 percent of all road traffic. Residents are not happy. Some have taken to pulling over erratic driving tourists and stealing their keys. The government announced plans to increase signage, reminding drivers to keep left on the road and posting ‘no passing’ markings. They will also be adding centre-line rumble strips.

One resident thinks he has a better idea. Josh (no last name published), has launched a website called T-Plates for Tourists. The idea is for all visitors who use a car rental service to earn a driver’s permit and identify themselves as tourists to other drivers. “I started this initiative because people who come to this country are given the right to drive despite many of them not knowing our driving rules or regulations, hence the number of crashes that occur on our roads,” said Josh. “I do not think we do enough already. I think there should be a test for tourists to sit like our learners test that is compulsory for anyone who wants to drive in this country.

Following this test they could receive a T-plate which would allow other drivers to know the dangers.” He wants the testing to include British citizens and Australians though they also drive on the left side of the road. Josh has initiated a petition to be submitted to Prime Minister John Key. Critics claim that the country will see less visitors if T-Plates become legal and it is not clear how labelling tourists will help them make better driving decisions. In fact some people warn that identifying their cars would make them targets for robberies.

“It’s a stupid idea and it will never happen,” said Chris Roberts, chief executive of the Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand. “The people behind it might be well meaning, but only a very small percent of overseas drivers are bad drivers, just like a small percent of New Zealanders are bad drivers. This idea had nothing factual to stand on at all.”