''Ten-one all units, keep an eye out for a rental vehicle ... heading towards Queenstown. Reports it's crossing over the centre line and travelled some distance on the wrong side of the road.''
It's one of more than 10,000 *555 calls Police Communications receive every year. It will, hopefully, result in the driver being intercepted by police and issued an infringement notice, or a summons to appear in court. But sometimes the call isn't to report bad driving to *555. Sometimes it's reporting to 111 a fatal or serious crash, one that in many cases could have so easily been avoided. And while the *555 calls seem to often mention ''rental car'', the reality is New Zealanders kill and seriously injure more people on our roads every year than tourists. Media attention this year has focused on tourist drivers. But are we painting an accurate picture of the problem or are we guilty of tourist-driver bashing? Tracey Roxburgh reports.
He heard 20-year-old Kejia Zhang, originally from China, was not a competent driver - she had ''negligible independent driving experience'' since gaining her driver's licence and none at all in the 10 months before arriving in New Zealand on November 24, 2012.
After arriving in Christchurch from Sydney, Zhang hired a rental car the next day and made her way to Tekapo.
Just before midday on November 26, a *555 call is made, reporting Zhang's erratic and dangerous driving.
Police at Twizel can't locate her.
Less than two and a-half hours later, Zhang loses control of the vehicle after drifting too far to the left on State Highway 9, about 20km north of Tarras.
Heading north is a group of 10 motorcyclists who have been at the Burt Munro event in Invercargill.
Following Mr Robert's death, his son, Sean, launched a petition aiming to prevent tourists driving on New Zealand roads without sitting a test.
To date, that petition has been signed by more than 29,000 people.
Senior Sergeant John Fookes, of Queenstown, told the coroner, Mr McElrea, at the inquest police should be given the power to remove drivers deemed incompetent from New Zealand roads.
The story made national headlines - it sparked debate; it prompted various agencies to work together to try to address the problem; it heightened public awareness.
It - anecdotally at least - prompted increased reporting to *555.
But did it cause us to become fixated on rental car drivers?
Police estimate 75% of all fatal and serious crashes in the central and lower South Island are not caused by drivers from overseas.
They are caused by New Zealanders.
• In the hour before my arrival at the Cromwell Police Station for a ride-along with Senior Constable Graeme Buttar, of the Central Otago Highway Patrol, five ''1U'', or traffic complaints, have been received.
But despite what you may read, Snr Const Buttar says the problem isn't actually getting any worse.
He should know - this month, he marked his 21st anniversary with New Zealand Police.
For all but four of those years, he's been based in Cromwell patrolling the highways.
What has changed is the number of people prepared to phone *555 and make a complaint.
Reporting bad drivers will never be a bad thing - aside from the ability to issue infringement notices or summons the driver to court, it enables police to better understand driver habits and where the issues are.
For some drivers, speed advisory signs on corners are unfamiliar - they don't understand it's the recommended speed for taking that corner - they think that is the speed limit.
They will continue driving at that speed until they see another advisory, Snr Const Buttar says.
This month, NZTA Southern Region regional director Jim Harland told the Otago Daily Times another issue with overseas drivers is that in a pressure situation a driver will instinctively revert back to what they know.
If a driver isn't used to driving on the left-hand side of the road, in those extreme situations, they can revert to what is familiar and, in doing so, make a bad decision.
Snr Const Buttar says an informal study on motorists crossing the centre line in the Kawarau Gorge showed of about 350 cars ''completely on the wrong side of the road on the double yellow lines'' - where the consequences could be disastrous - the average age of drivers was 45, they were predominantly male and caucasian.
Just 17% were from overseas - predominantly the United Kingdom and Australia.
''People think 'bad driver: Asian' - that's people's prejudices.''
In fact, in the nearly eight hours I'm with Snr Const Buttar, not one Asian driver is stopped by him and two of the 10 drivers issued either warnings or infringement notices are from overseas.
One, a Mexican male, is lost and seems to have ignored the 50kmh sign, with the radar locking his speed at 71kmh.
He is trying to get to Dunedin. Unfortunately, the road he is on will not get him there and he does not have GPS.
After giving him some reminders about driving in New Zealand, including speed limits, and handing him an infringement notice, Snr Const Buttar provides him with directions before waiting to make sure he gets back on the right track.
Later, the radar locks on to an oncoming vehicle - about to enter the Kawarau Gorge at 120kmh. The driver is Australian - he has driven almost 500km today, starting at Hokitika, and is now less than 60km from his destination, Queenstown.
That is often a recipe for disaster. It's a hot day, it's been a long drive and the end is in sight.
''That's where the bad decisions are made,'' Snr Const Buttar says.
That Friday, several 1U complaints come through - predominantly reports of drivers in rental cars crossing the centre line. On the highway between Alexandra and Roxburgh, however, every single motorist pulled over was for excess speed.
One New Zealand driver, with a radar in his car to detect police officers and his family in the back, was clocked at 123kmh. His cruise control was set at 110kmh, already 10kmh over the speed limit.
A fine and demerit points were his early Christmas presents from the New Zealand Police.
While drivers doing less than 110kmh were simply given a warning and a quick lesson on the police's Safer Summer programme, for others there's no option but to ticket them.
Snr Const Buttar knows all too well the consequences of drivers travelling too fast or not paying attention - he's been one of those police officers spraypainting marks on the road following a fatal crash.
And he's been the one knocking on a door with a heavy heart about to tell a family their loved one won't be coming home.
''The worst job to do in the New Zealand Police is going around to inform the next of kin. You know the first sentence that's going to come out of your mouth is going to change that person's life.''
• It's about 8pm when I leave Snr Const Buttar and head back to Queenstown through the Kawarau Gorge.
I'm more conscious than usual of other cars on the road, and floored by some of the driving behaviour - tailgating, dangerous overtaking, speeds only someone with a death wish would travel at.
And, interestingly enough, not one of those drivers was behind the wheel of a rental car.
Statistics for 2012 show, nationally, 20 overseas drivers were involved in fatal crashes, just 5% of fatal crashes that year.
Overseas drivers were found to be at fault in 16 of those crashes (4%). That means, of all fatal road crashes in New Zealand in 2012, 96% were caused by New Zealanders.
