Tougher sentences for foreign drivers

Tauranga's Clayton Mitchell is backing New Zealand First leader Winston Peters' call for tougher sentencing of foreign drivers causing fatal crashes.

Clayton told SunLive he had a 'problem” with the growing number of fatalities on New Zealand roads, in particular those which have involved foreign drivers.


NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell wants tougher sentences for foreign drivers who cause fatal crashes. File photo.

'With record numbers of tourists arriving each year we can expect those numbers of fatalities to increase accordingly unless something is done now.”

Earlier this month, 27-year-old Jieling Xiao pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Tauranga motorcyclist Rhys Middleton near Napier in February.

Rhys Middleton, 23, died when the motorbike he was driving along State Highway 5, in Eskdale, north of Napier, collided with Xiao's vehicle.

The pair had both been travelling in the same direction when the crash occurred. Rhys was among a group of motorcyclists when the crash happened.

The high number of fatal crashes involving foreign drivers has urged New Zealand First leader Winston Peters to call for tougher sentencing.

'Too often the driver is given a comparatively light sentence and disappears overseas quickly.

'On behalf of the families of Northlanders Kylee Anne Rakich and Virginia Keogh, who were killed by an American driver on State Highway 10, we urge the courts to consider their circumstances as well as those of the driver at sentencing.

'The families have been devastated by the accident which also led to the death of an unborn child. There has been a rush to complete the court hearing and sentencing the driver has added to their trauma.

'The driver has admitted two charges of careless driving causing death, and one of causing injury.”

Winston says often foreign drivers are not familiar with the standard of highway in New Zealand, have no experience on rural roads, drive on the other side of the road in their home country, do not take heed of the long distances and winding roads, and spend too long behind the wheel.

'Yet when a fatal accident occurs the penalties seem light, and are certainly no deterrent to others contemplating driving around New Zealand.”

He says New Zealand First believes rental car companies should take responsibility to ensure people hiring their vehicles are competent.

'Our Land Transport (Tourist Driver Rental Vehicle) Amendment Bill is awaiting introduction into Parliament,” says Winston.

Clayton agrees saying harsher penalties for tourists who kill people on New Zealand roads is part of the solution to the problem.

'But a duty of care for rental car companies also needs to be imposed. Rental companies need to be regulated to ensure vehicles that are rented to foreign drivers should have all the safety features a modern car can have.”

Rental Car companies should also ensure the hirers are fully aware of the road code and their driver's license and their experience is sufficient to competently drive on our notoriously dangerous roads, says Clayton.

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47 comments

its more simple

Posted on 19-05-2016 07:37 | By Capt_Kaveman

than that ban drivers from left hand road country's


Capt-Caveman

Posted on 19-05-2016 08:14 | By FunandGames

The dynamics of the issue are a little bigger than that. Many drivers from left hand drive countries would put NZ drivers to shame.


Avr

Posted on 19-05-2016 12:20 | By Anton

How many accident with head on collisions did we have lately wth NZ drivers?


Road Safety

Posted on 19-05-2016 12:35 | By Conzar

The solution is automation in driving. NZ should be putting money into making transportation safer by adopting autopilots in all motor vehicles. We have thousands of years of history to prove that harsh punishment DOES NOT change human behaviour. The only way to fix the human driver problem is to remove humans from piloting the car. This technology exists, and has proven to work. The NZ government should put it to use. Removing humans from piloting cars would significantly reduce road crashes and fatalities. We should not be listening to NZ first, they simply do not have the technological intelligence to be making any decisions.


Rastus

Posted on 19-05-2016 13:05 | By rastus

What ill conceived rhetoric from 'Consar' maybe would make more sense if he/she told us what their expertise in this technology was/is - regardless of that, NZ First, or any other politician do not require a high level of technical expertise to make such an obvious conclusion from the 'facts' or are none of us mere mortals allowed the freedom of speech


Just headline grabbing

Posted on 19-05-2016 13:47 | By the real story please

Bigger penalties would be dealing with the issue after the fact, it may give victims families some closure but surely to not have victims is the more important goal.


Start with Facts

Posted on 19-05-2016 14:03 | By Ron

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11518496 Despite the dog-whistle xenophobia that we know New Zealand First promotes, the facts are that despite the increasing numbers of tourists, accidents involving foreign drivers FELL 5% between 2004 and 2014


foreign drivers

Posted on 19-05-2016 14:30 | By Tyraone

Especially those who know only to drive on the right hand side of the road. Simple solution either give same a practical driving test or dont let them drive at all on NZ roads??!!!


Interesting.

Posted on 19-05-2016 14:53 | By morepork

If Ron's "Facts" are right, then it shows that rental companies ARE moving to address the issue. I believe that is where it should be addressed. They should be held liable if they give a lethal weapon (car) to somebody who is incompetent. Maybe a 10 minute trip so that the general skills of the foreign hirer can be assessed, should be mandatory. Yes, it could be tedious, especially when they are busy, but lives are at stake. If you hire an aeroplane in the US and you are not a citizen, and they have any reason to believe you are not used to flying there (low hours, non-US licence), you will be required to do 3 accompanied circuits before they will give you the plane. We could require a "mini test" for foreign drivers who look like being risky. Responsibility should be with the hirers.


@Conzar

Posted on 19-05-2016 14:57 | By morepork

Yes, driverless cars are on the horizon, but they are not here yet. And it is just as painful to have your loved ones wiped out by a program bug as it is to have them wiped out by a foreign driver.


@By Ron

Posted on 19-05-2016 15:27 | By Colleen Spiro

It is not falling fast enough for the families of those who lose their loved ones.....a flippant comment.


@morepork

Posted on 19-05-2016 15:48 | By Conzar

The difference between having your loved one 'wiped out' by a program bug and a human, is the fact that the program bug will be fixed and it won't happen again to other people. Humans have lots of bugs that just can't be fixed. The autopilot systems will continuously get better. Government should step up and legislate and require autopilot systems. They have already done this with seat belts and other car safety equipment. Autopilot systems should be at the forefront of government in terms of transportation safetly. As for the systems, they are here. The small car company Tesla already has their cars driving on the highway in the USA without the need for driver input. Thankfully, Telsa will be shipping cars to NZ in 2018 that have this autopilot hardware installed.


Hmmmm

Posted on 19-05-2016 16:09 | By How about this view!

It's always upsetting when we read of overseas visitors being involved in road traffic crashes on our soil. But let's not forget than drivers taught to drive in New Zealand by mum and dad, would possibly be some of the least well-equipped drivers in the world and would also be some of the poorest monitored drivers in the developed world. BUT, as is the usual case in New Zealand, we concentrate more efforts and resources into minority groups, such as those visiting from overseas rather than the majority issues that are homegrown.


Every country should play a part.

Posted on 19-05-2016 16:55 | By local yokel

Tourisim is big in this country just as it is overseas and there is the same problem happening overseas where some NZ drivers or drivers from other countries also cause accidents. Hit it where the problem lies. Education.In the cost of their booking their trip the Travel Companies should supply DVD's at their cost to everyone booking a trip to another country on the driving conditions and skills needed to drive there so they could take it home and study it before going to another country. When they arrive the rental car companies could give them a quick questioneer followed by another viewing of a DVD for the country they are in, then a quick road test before they are given the keys for the vehicle.


When...

Posted on 19-05-2016 17:12 | By GreertonBoy

I first drove a LHD car in Australia, for about half an hour I found it weird.. that was driving on the same side of the road as here in NZ... I can imagine what a spin out it must be to say, go to America and drive a lefty on the 'wrong' side of the road as well? I would suggest that rental companies when a LHD driver rents one of their cars, they allocate half an hour for the nominated driver, for one of the staff to go for a burl around the block a few times and give the client a chance to familiarise themselves with driving on our side of the road. That, to me, would be alot better than taking their cash and pointing out the gate to them, with their family and luggage on board ... sort of an 'ice breaker'


Testing

Posted on 19-05-2016 17:29 | By Arkryt

Agree with morepork but don't just chase the rental cars as most cars are actually purchased by tourists than hired, so it should be a standard test before driving our roads. A basic drive should expose drivers abilities, but accidents will still happen.


Pulp Fiction

Posted on 19-05-2016 18:48 | By maildrop

What a load of rubbish. It's policy not backed up by any fact but just to appeal to the moronic. Still, seems to work for The Donald so give it a go Clayton. Given New Zealand's terrible road statistics (which is down to terrible Kiwi drivers, not foreigners) there are plenty of morons who will like this policy "idea". Joke.


Conzar

Posted on 19-05-2016 20:55 | By Kenworthlogger

I can just see it now. The self drive car is going along fine and all of a sudden windows needs to close this application and reboot..


Perhaps some perspective

Posted on 19-05-2016 21:23 | By Merlin

I read recently that an overseas driver had a license but had never driven on an open road and can drive here.The suggestions that a T plate will improve their driving capabilities is nonsense perhaps we should have an I (Idiot)license for some NZ drivers.Increased penalties will not improve some peoples driving


T plates

Posted on 19-05-2016 21:34 | By rosscoo

I do not think giving T Plates will make a difference. It is down to attitude of drivers. know matter whether foreign or local driver you must drive to the conditions. When driving somewhere you have not been before take more care. All our road signs are international symbols so should not be a problem.


@Kenworthlogger

Posted on 20-05-2016 15:46 | By Conzar

Noone in their right mind would run M$ Windows on mission critical applications. GNU/Linux is used in the Google car because its the very bets operating system. Why is it the best? Many technical reasons but the fundamental reason is that its developed collaboratively. Its the ONLY TRUE democracy the world has. The source code is free and open. This allows thousands of developers world wide to study the code, fix bugs, and make improvements. The reason Windows sucks, is because is closed and proprietary. If you have a problem with the US, you HAVE to ask M$ for help. If there is a problem with GNU/Linux, you can fix it yourself.


@Conzar

Posted on 20-05-2016 16:02 | By morepork

Having programmed computers for over 40 years now I can assure you there is no such thing as a perfect computer program. There are only programs that "have not failed yet". I have followed Elon Musk since the Paypal days and am well aware of the state of the Tesla interface and the software for driving cars. It is very good and it will help considerably. My point is that there will ALWAYS be road crashes (the same as happens with aircraft and shipping) and we should NOT assume that technology can eradicate it. (Technology can certainly make it less likely; the danger is when people start believing the technology is infallible and don't exercise common sense.) Have you thought about what happens when a driverless car collides with a driven one? If the driver is really not at fault, who would believe it?


@morepork

Posted on 20-05-2016 17:26 | By Conzar

You are really underselling computer systems here. Computer Systems are simply superior to human drivers. Why? Because these systems simply have more information in order to make a decision. Humans only have eyes that generally are looking forward and ears that hear in a very limited range. I suggest that you do a bit of research into the capabilities of the autopilot hardware. Since you have 40 years of programming experience, you can appreciate how superior computers are to humans in many ways. As for a human driver hitting an autonomous one, if a government was smart, they would simply ban human driver. This would solve the problem before it even starts.


Conzar

Posted on 21-05-2016 03:18 | By Kenworthlogger

Think back to the Paris airshow when the Air France Airbus plowed into the trees when doing a low flypast. The computer took over and tried to land the plane when the pilots were just doing a low flypast. Sorry mate no computers needed to drive for me. Some of us are good drivers....


@Kenworthlogger

Posted on 21-05-2016 12:05 | By Conzar

You find one instance were there was a fault in the computer system, but how many more instances are there where a human is at fault? Just as computers are superior to humans at playing chess, so are computer systems at piloting cars. Its irrelevant if you accept this fact or not. Humans simply will not be driving cars in the future. The sooner we transition to automated systems, the safer our roads in NZ will become.


@KWL

Posted on 21-05-2016 19:27 | By morepork

Paris Air Show is a very good example. There was actually no fault in the software; it did what it was told to do. Conzar is a fanboy and there is nothing wrong with that, PROVIDED you realize that technology is NOT infallible. I remember a time when people would believe anything, as long as it was printed by a computer on green lineflo... That's the danger that concerns me.(I almost got fired once for doing an experiment with senior managers to see if Marshall McLuhan's "The media is the message" was true. They received some financial reports that were complete nonsense yet only the CEO had enough sense to recognize that the reports were impossible. Nobody else was prepared to argue with the mainframe...


Morepork

Posted on 22-05-2016 09:00 | By Kenworthlogger

For the record. The Air France airbus had poor programming. The pilots were trying to do a low flyby for the crowd when the cumputer took over and trid to land it. Thats is why it crashed.


@KenWL

Posted on 22-05-2016 15:15 | By morepork

There was never any blame on the computer system or its programming. Like I said: it did what it was told to do. (Despite what you may have seen on TV...) Remember these were the early days of "fly-by-wire".


Air france crash at Paris airshow

Posted on 22-05-2016 17:33 | By Kenworthlogger

From higher up, the forest at the end of runway 34R had looked like a different type of grass. But now that the aircraft was performing its flyover at only 30 feet, the crew noticed the aircraft was lower than the now-identified hazard that they were fast approaching.[2] First officer: "TOGA power! Go-around track!"[2] The crew applied full power and the pilot attempted to climb. However, the elevators did not respond to the pilot's commands, because the A320 computer system engaged its "alpha protection" mode (meant to prevent the aircraft entering a stall). Less than five seconds later, the turbines began ingesting leaves and branches as the aircraft skimmed the tops of the trees. The combustion chambers clogged up and the engines failed. The aircraft fell to the ground. Sounds like it did not do what the pilots told it to do Morepork.


@morepork

Posted on 22-05-2016 19:00 | By Conzar

I have a bachelors of science and a masters of science in computer engineering. I find it funny you call that being a fanboy.


@Conzar

Posted on 23-05-2016 13:18 | By morepork

It isn't your qualifications that make you a fanboy, it is your attitude. True professionals know that the MS vs LAMP war is stupid and pointless.Open Source has pros and cons just like commercial software does... (try getting a PostgreSQL ODBC driver fixed when the guys that wrote it have gone surfing... at least MS respond with a hot fix within 24 hours.) There is good software and there is not-so-good-software; it exists in both camps. You are a fanboy for technology and there is nothing wrong with that PROVIDED you don't let it blind you to common sense, or start believing that the technology is infallible. (Maybe, in years to come, when AI comes of age, there will be software that is so close to perfect, it might as well be considered perfect, but that time is not yet. And that was my whole point.)


@KenWL

Posted on 23-05-2016 13:25 | By morepork

I actually posted a link on my last response but it seems to have been snipped. I have read the report you quote but there is more to it than that. My point was not that the plane did what he pilots told it to do, it was that the program did what it had been told to do. (And it was correct...) The whole thing was a tragic mix of human error and not understanding how the fly-by-wire was supposed to work. Anyway, I agree with you that you don't need a computer to drive your truck... :-)


@morepork

Posted on 23-05-2016 16:47 | By Conzar

You enjoy strawmanning. Nowhere do I ever mention technology is infallible. Its you that came up with this claim and used it to associate me with a fanboy. Free and Open source is the methodology behind producing software. Open Source is always a better methodology for producing software over closed source. There are plenty of business who are paid to support open source software that can be rung 24h 360. Redhat being the #1 open source GNU/Linux company to reach over $1 billion. Just please stop acting like you know what your talking about, because you simply don't.


Not only overseas drivers

Posted on 23-05-2016 21:03 | By astex

as most drivers from overseas will be far better drivers than Kiwis. They sure as hell will not be used to the sheer arrogance, stupidity and thoughtlessness of many Kiwi drivers. Only this morning at rush hour I was trying to turn left at the Ohauiti road lights into welcome bay road. I was the first in line but still had to wait through 5 sequences of the lights due to inconsiderate drivers entering the junction without having a clear exit when the lights changed. Then the same performance at the welcome bay roundabout. Unbelievable! And not a traffic cop to be seen.


Conzar

Posted on 24-05-2016 08:44 | By Kenworthlogger

You said computers are superior at driving cars than humans. If so we would be surrounded by them. Morepork is totally right about you mate.


What's the point?

Posted on 24-05-2016 08:49 | By Bay Citizen

If these are genuine accidents (and we can only assume that they are), what is the point of imprisoning foreigners in our jails? Complete waste of money, and punishes people who likely feel huge remorse twice over.


Tests

Posted on 24-05-2016 08:57 | By Bay Citizen

Making foreign drivers sit driving tests is completely ludicrous. It would kill tourism at a stroke since no one likes to do such a test, and it would be easy to fail for some minor reason and cost people who've spent lots of money getting here dear as they simply have to fly home again. In addition, it wouldn't actually solve the problem. I mean, how likely is it that you start a test by driving off on the wrong side of the road? No, that only comes from doing so absent mindedly, or when you are tired.


@Kenworthlogger

Posted on 24-05-2016 09:45 | By Conzar

You are unable to substantiate the personal attack of calling me a fanboy. Agreeing with him just shows that your a troll (as everyone here already knows). As for your comment, "You said computers are superior at driving cars than humans. If so we would be surrounded by them." You clearly do not understand politics nor the economy. Currently, laws are holding back autopilot in all countries. This is changing in the USA with CA allowing the Google car to run on its roads. Of course, Telsa already has its autopilot working on highways in the USA and Europe. The major car manufactures are ALL working on autopilot. I can understand why most of you fear technology, your old and your intelligence is limited.


@Bay Citizen

Posted on 24-05-2016 20:04 | By morepork

I take your point, and agree it would probably not be viable to do a road test of every foreign driver who wants to hire a car, anyway. But vendors do need to be more responsible and not just "take the money". Maybe a two pronged attack is best, with both the hiree and the vendor carrying more responsibility than at present. What would you suggest as a reasonable solution?


The problem is natural instinct

Posted on 25-05-2016 13:36 | By astex

Overseas drivers have a reminder every time they get in the car "on the wrong side" that we drive on the left. The problem in many cases is with natural reaction in an emergency. When you are used to driving on the left your natural reaction is to swerve to the left. If you are used to driving on the right the natural reaction is to swerve right ionto danger.


Conzar

Posted on 25-05-2016 14:39 | By Kenworthlogger

I never called you anything. I just said i agreed with morepork. Sounds like you have been watching too many movies like The Terminator. You constantly make me laugh. Thanks for the chuckle.


@ Morepork

Posted on 25-05-2016 18:52 | By Bay Citizen

I don't think there is any easy solution, but then I think the problem is completely overblown. There simply isn't a "high number of fatal crashes involving foreign drivers". The number is about 10 per year. Statistically speaking, it's almost irrelevant. Such scare mongering by NZ First and the media is highly irresponsible.


@Bay Citizen

Posted on 26-05-2016 12:44 | By morepork

A fair point. If it is around 10 per year, it is still too many (especially for those who lost their loved ones), but I agree with you that, in the context of around 300 road deaths per year, it probably doesn't warrant a lot of special attention.


.

Posted on 28-05-2016 09:52 | By whatsinaname

what about tuffer sentences for nz drivers as well. . some shockers here


Death by Tourist

Posted on 03-06-2016 15:14 | By dreamingofacruise

Until you have a family member killed by a tourist, you would all change your views and ideas quickly.


Dreamingoforacruise

Posted on 06-06-2016 11:12 | By Kenworthlogger

You have got more chance of being killed by a kiwi motorist mate.


Dreamingofacruise

Posted on 11-06-2016 11:38 | By maildrop

Grief leads to irrational logic, as does ignorance. Foreign drivers are not the issue but it is the Kiwi way to shift the blame. Clayton and his party blame foreigners for the road toll, house prices and even domestic violence. How mad is that? Just the high rate of child abuse/deaths to add to the list. Crackpots.


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