Action Needed Over Woeful Tourist Driving
Denis O’Rourke MP
Spokesperson for Transport
10
FEBRUARY 2015
Action Needed Over Woeful Tourist Driving
Alarming reports of tourists driving on the wrong side of the road and overtaking on the yellow lines over the summer show the urgent need for New Zealand First’s bill targeting tourist drivers, says the party.
“We’ve been dismayed at the shocking driving this summer and amazed that more accidents have not occurred,” says New Zealand First’s Spokesperson for Transport Denis O’Rourke.
“New Zealand First’s bill, the Land Transport (Tourist Driver Rental
Vehicle) Amendment Bill, would require rental companies
to investigate the competence of hirers from overseas to
drive on New Zealand roads, educate them about driving
requirements, and ensure that they have the experience to do
so.
“Under our bill if the rental company failed to take adequate action they could become vicariously liable for any accident caused by the hirer.
“Only yesterday a Christchurch rental car company employee was heard telling a tourist to tick a box that said she was familiar with driving in New Zealand, when she wasn’t.
“The tourist had ticked the box saying she was not familiar with driving here, but the rental company employee told her to change the box she ticked.
“The New Zealand First Bill also requires a minimum standard for the vehicles hired. The latest safety technologies and standards in accordance with existing Australian standards would be mandatory. These include devices to warn the driver if a car veers into the wrong side of the road.
“The bill would apply to drivers from overseas and Kiwis, and should therefore be unobjectionable.
“The government has been dilatory about the growing problem of incompetent hire-car drivers. This has to be addressed urgently before more avoidable fatalities occur.
“We call upon the government to adopt it and enact it without delay,” says Mr O’Rourke.
ENDS