Australians among worst crash offenders in NZ

Australians are some of the worst offenders on New Zealand roads when it comes fatal and injury crashes among foreign drivers.

A new report titled Overseas Drivers in Crashes revealed the large majority of overseas visitors involved in crashes were from across the ditch.

The top six countries with the highest numbers of drivers involved in crashes between 2010-2014 were Australia, Germany, UK, China, India and the USA. Combined, these six countries contributed over half (55%) of the overseas drivers in crashes.

In 2014 overseas drivers (those with an overseas drivers licence) were involved in 16 fatal traffic crashes, 100 serious injury crashes and 436 minor injury crashes.

Of these crashes, the overseas driver was at fault in 15 of the fatal crashes, 78 of the serious injury crashes and 332 of the minor injury crashes, resulting in 22 deaths, 118 serious injuries and 551 minor injuries.

The determination of fault for a crash is based on crash movements and crash cause factors assigned in the Crash Analysis System.

Associate Transport Minister Craig Foss said the figures did not come as a surprise.

"It is actually many people from left hand drive countries having accidents so it is not [so much] those that come from right hand drive countries. I can understand why some people probably made that conclusion but now we can show it is just not the case."

Mr Foss said excessive speed and under doing or over doing a corner had been key factors in many crashes involving Australians.

"A common cause of injury in Australia is just driving too fast for the conditions," he said.

"Now of course the total amount of Australian visitors was actually much higher than the others but the others are really quite significant visitors as well so that also influences the numbers."

What was surprising was the causes of crashes which were by and large the same causes behind why New Zealanders crashed, he said.

"I was wondering if fatigue was an issue as well because at first glance ... people immediately go to fatigue and driving on the other side of the road and this busts both of those myths.

"Drivers from overseas are [mostly] having accidents for the same reasons as New Zealanders which are speed, distraction, intersections."

The report showed the two biggest crash types for overseas licence holders were intersection collisions and single vehicle "loss of control or run off road" crashes. These are followed by "rear end or collision with obstruction crashes" and head-on crashes.

"The sad and brutal fact of all things on the road is New Zealanders are dying on our roads almost one a day, at the same time there may be a visiting driver's accident or near miss somewhere and that puts it into stark reality and contrast that as a country we so have to lift our game for driving on the road."

He said the fact that the percentage of crashes by tourist drivers had remained relatively stable over the years, despite the numbers of tourists increasing by 30%, showed "things are working".

"We have still got a long way to go, but at least that is a good sign."

The report follows recent controversy around tourist drivers and a call for a Government crackdown on foreign drivers.

Over the Christmas period in 2015 there was a spate of incidents involving drivers removing the keys of tourist drivers who they believed were driving dangerously.

In February, a Haast woman confiscated the car keys from a Chinese tourist who was allegedly driving badly at Franz Josef Glacier.

Sheri Wright confiscated the drivers keys after a "fairly hair-raising" journey travelling behind the car which was driving erratically between Hari Hari and Te Taho.

The following month, an incensed Dunedin man took car keys from a tourist who had stopped to take photos on Otago Peninsula, causing eight vehicles to back up on the narrow road.

Robert Penman took the keys off a foreign driver because "I've been in a head-on crash before and I don't want to be in another one".

The same month, a 39-year-old female Taiwanese driver was charged with careless driving causing death and careless driving causing injury after the rented people mover she was driving crashed and killed one person.