Tourism NZ lying over video, says safety campaigner

Claims by Tourism NZ that a promotional video showing a camper van driving down the wrong side of the road was the result of an 'honest mistake' are not true, says the car review website dogandlemon.com.

The credits* on the video, which has since been taken down from Youtube, read:

"[The reason we flipped the image of the van around] was to make it look like we were always traveling from LEFT to RIGHT, as that is how most of the world reads."

Dogandlemon.com editor, Clive Matthew-Wilson, says:

"The credits at the end of the video make it clear this portrayal of a camper van driving down the wrong side of the road was deliberate. This appears to be have been done to make foreigners feel more comfortable with driving a vehicle in New Zealand. Not only is it grossly irresponsible for Tourism New Zealand to imply that overseas tourists will be able to continue to drive the way they do at home, but it's clear that this portrayal was deliberate, not a mistake, as Tourism New Zealand has claimed."

"Tourists driving down the wrong side of the road kill ordinary New Zealanders. To promote this driving in a promotional video is just awful. The fact that Tourism New Zealand would allow this footage to be shown is breathtakingly reckless."

"The little 'safety first' message at the end doesn't help. We doubt most tourists would even read the credits."

*The actual credits from the Tourism NZ video:

"In New Zealand they drive on the left side of the road, as is seen in many countries. For a couple driving shots on this video, we "flipped" or "mirrored" them. This in turn made it look like we were driving on the wrong side of the road. This was never the case, we always made sure to drive on the right side of the road :) The reason for this flip was to make it look like we were always traveling from LEFT to RIGHT, as that is how most of the world reads. For anyone travelling to New Zealand, please be sure to visit newzealand.com to read all the information about driving before you leave. Safety First :)"

ENDS

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