The mother of a Tauranga man killed in a crash near Napier earlier this year has started an online petition for foreign drivers to sit a New Zealand driver's licence test.
Judy Richards launched the online petition after Chinese national Jieling Xiao had her jail sentenced quashed last week.
Rhys Middleton was killed in a crash earlier this year.
Xiao was originally sentenced to 17 months jail after pleading guilty to a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Tauranga motorcyclist Rhys Middleton in February.
Justice Jullian Mallon quashed the jail sentence on Friday, August 19. It was replaced with nine months home detention and 150 hours community work.
Xiao appealed her sentence to the High Court on Tuesday, August 15. Her lawyer, Scott Jefferson, argued the crash occurred because of Xiao's inexperience driving in this country, not "overt" dangerous driving, and she should not have been sentenced to prison. Read more here.
Rhys' mother is now calling for the government to pass legislation requiring any visitor to New Zealand who is issued with a visa for a period longer than three months, to sit a full New Zealand driver's licence test.
Since the online petition was launched, 1799 signatures have been gathered. The goal is to get 10,000 signatures.
A new petition will put the spotlight on the government's need to address the distressing issue of road deaths and injuries caused by foreign drivers, says Clayton Mitchell, New Zealand First List MP based in Tauranga.
NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell says New Zealand Firest supports Judy in her endeavour.
'This is a sensible approach and sits well alongside our Land Transport (Tourist Driver Rental Vehicle) Amendment Bill which covers drivers who might be here for short periods by requiring rental companies to check their competence.
'On Wednesday, Chinese National Limin Ma admitted causing the death of Dunedin man Riley Baker in a head-on crash, in November Motueka motorcyclist Craig Chambers died when a Singaporean tourist crossed a double line and in February last year 5-year-old Ruby Marris died when a Chinese driver crashed into her family's car.
'There have been far too many incidents where there has been loss of life as a result of inexperience on our roads."
13 comments
Unfortunatly
Posted on 26-08-2016 08:42 | By Kenworthlogger
This will never happen as it is the same when you go drive overseas on a kiwi license. Unfortunately when it comes to anything Chinese its not up to spec. In this instance its dodgy Chinese drivers licences.
What about the locals?
Posted on 26-08-2016 09:05 | By The Hobbit
We can't single out foreign drivers when it comes to road safety. As Bridges points out, these drivers only represent a small proportion of incidents - it's the locals who cause the majority of accidents and fatalities on NZ roads and the sooner Kiwi's accept this fact the sooner we can all do something about it. It's rare we hear in the news that a Kiwi has been jailed due to causing death by dangerous driving. What happens when a Kiwi kills a foreign/tourist driver as was the case at Omokoroa when the portaloo fell off the back of a vehicle killing a French national? Blame is disproportionate in NZ - come on Kiwi's - take responsibility and improve road safety significantly.
Overit
Posted on 26-08-2016 09:12 | By overit
Touche, about time.
Hmmmm
Posted on 26-08-2016 09:18 | By How about this view!
My condolences go out to the family involved in this tragic incident, but it must be noted that our own drivers (that have passed our driving tests) are awful, irresponsible and ignorant of our road code at the very best of times. Many, but certainly not all, of the international drivers on our roads are head and shoulders above the abilities of our own stock and a chat with them would result in some horror stories of traffic encounters. So what is the answer? Getting around NZ is NOT easy without your own transport (Tauranga doesn't even have a bus service that goes anywhere near the beaches, for goodness sake) Do we FORCE all tourists to travel on organised tours? Maybe, the easy answer would be to target certain countries and use our embassy staff to set-up quality compulsory driving courses for people intending to travel here and drive.
Stupid idea
Posted on 26-08-2016 09:22 | By Bay Citizen
One feels for the mother's loss, but her's is a stupid idea that will do nothing for road safety, increase pointless bureaucracy and antagonise visitors. NZ does not have special driving conditions. Its roads are much like those elsewhere and things like signage are governed by international agreements. Crashes happen for the same reasons the world over, and youthful inexperience is one of those.
as long as it works both ways
Posted on 26-08-2016 09:49 | By Annalist
Provided we are happy to also sit tests should we wish to drive when overseas then maybe this is fair enough. But we must remember there are still way more NZ drivers involved in terrible accidents than just foreigners, Yet we let repeat NZ drunk drivers offend again and again and again with no real consequences. The other problem with this proposal is that it only applies to those here more than 3 months, so presumably drivers here for less than that could still cause havoc if they were incompetent.
Driver testing
Posted on 26-08-2016 16:12 | By Colleen Spiro
I had to prove to a Police Officer in Rarotonga I could drive.....so it's ok that we don't upset tourists, and it's ok, by her own admission that she was not competent to be on the road and accepted the tragic accident was her fault, and furthermore, it is ok, that she appeals her sentence, a crappy Judge lets her off with home D, and now she is back in her homeland. I really feel for this family.
why overit?
Posted on 26-08-2016 16:25 | By jed
Statistics show that tourist drivers cause as many accidents as locals on a per-capita basis. So, why do you make such a comment?
injustice too
Posted on 26-08-2016 16:48 | By jed
Allowing the woman off without any penalty is a gross miscarriage of justice too -- why didn't the judge take into account the woman is a tourist who will be completely free once back in china!!!He should have made her do her time here first.Quite disgraceful.
Jed
Posted on 26-08-2016 17:53 | By overit
Not with you-I am for foreigners sitting a driving test here. Yes our drivers are bad, but I keep hearing about tourists killing on the road and this will be a measure of their knowledge and skills.
Seriously Colleen
Posted on 26-08-2016 18:11 | By Kenworthlogger
I too have been to Rarotonga and done the so called driver test and apart from the fact that everyone passes its not worth the paper its written on. Try and get one converted to a NZ licence and they will laugh at you.
Jed
Posted on 26-08-2016 19:44 | By maildrop
Your first comment is simply incorrect. I am more likely to be killed by a Kiwi on a per capita basis or any other basis. Your second comment is also incorrect. Her "penalty" was (after appeal) consistent with other road killers - in fact arguably more severe. I read the other day of a Kiwi who killed whilst driving recklessly and disqualified, and got 10 months home detention. So, as we have already established, she is a crap driver. But the majority of foreigners are far better drivers than Kiwis, and come from countries with a much better road record. So the solution should be to focus on Kiwi drivers and raising their standards to the best of the foreign standards. Rather than unduly punishing those rare foreigners who happen to be from a country where standards are lower than NZ, which are few and far between.
NZ leads the way
Posted on 26-08-2016 19:53 | By maildrop
You only have to look at the numbers to see how bad Kiwis are on the road. Death toll, the number of disqualified drivers caught driving, drink drivers, drugged drivers, speeding, unfit vehicles, uninsured, blah blah blah. Dukes of Hazard stuff. And like those redneck straw suckers you focus on those foreign folks while you drive like maniacs. Yee haw.
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