It is ''technically illegal'' for motorists to take keys off other drivers if there is a perceived danger, but a Queenstown man who did so will not be prosecuted, police say.
The police comments come in the wake of an incident on the Lindis pass at the weekend, when a man confiscated the rental car keys of an Australian driver who allegedly overtook another vehicle on a blind bend, forcing an oncoming motorist to drive off the road.
Acting road policing manager Senior Sergeant Steve Larking said yesterday police did not advise removing keys from someone else's vehicle as it could ''put them at risk and is technically illegal'' under section 226 (2) of the Crimes Act 1961.
However, police would not be taking any action against the man as he had believed he was acting in the best interests of public safety.
Section 226 - ''Conversion of vehicle or other conveyance'' - states a person can be imprisoned for up to two years by dishonestly and without claim of right interfering with a vehicle.
Prof Kevin Dawkins, of the University of Otago's Faculty of Law, said by taking the keys, the man would be ''depriving temporarily the tourist driver of his ability to use the vehicle, which might amount to conversion''.
However, police would have to prove the man acted dishonestly and without claim of right.
The Crimes Act states a person would have a ''claim of right'' if they believed they had a ''proprietary or possessory right'' to the vehicle, even if they were mistaken.
Prof Dawkins said that meant the man might have believed he was entitled to claim possession of the keys.
A motorist in his situation would also have the ''fallback defence'' of duress of circumstances.
''Which means where there is a ... pending danger or a risk of a potential injury, someone could intervene and defend that charge by duress of circumstances.
"In other words, the circumstances are so ... compelling and urgent so as to create a kind of exigent situation where one has no option but to deprive the person of the means of committing a further offence.''
Prof Dawkins said the man who took the keys could have well averted a potentially fatal collision, ''sooner or later''.
A Ministry of Transport representative said the powers under the Land Transport Act 1998 to immobilise vehicles were confined to enforcement officers, such as police - and only in specified circumstances - and did not extend to the public.
Meanwhile, allegations of road rage and speeding made against the man who confiscated the tourist driver's keys have been dismissed as ''ludicrous''.
A unnamed witness who contacted the Otago Daily Times said the Australian tourist was ''absolutely'' in the wrong with his overtaking manoeuvre. But the driver who took the keys was speeding before the incident and his subsequent actions were a clear case of road rage.
The driver who took the keys and who has also declined to be named, denied the suggestion.
''It's ludicrous. We were following a car for quite some time ... and there was no road rage involved at all ... [the tourist driver] was obviously travelling in the opposite direction, so it was a brief encounter ... in the middle of a blind corner, so it's not as if I was following him and he was making me angry.''
The tourist driver, who has been charged with careless use of a motor vehicle, has cut his holiday short and returned to Sydney with his family, after his rental car contract was cancelled.
''If I've done something wrong, no problem, court can decide, we'll pay the fine,'' he said from Australia yesterday.
''Whatever the judiciary says, I'm ready to accept it and respect the law in each country.''
He maintained he had overtaken in a legal passing area, the oncoming car was a safe distance away and he was ''100% sure'' it did not have to veer off the road to avoid a head-on collision.
He said the driver who took the keys - who he initially assumed was an undercover police officer - made him pull over, then ''abused'' him before leaving his group stranded in a ''very scary situation'' in a remote spot.
''Even if I've done something wrong, this is not the way one should react to a tourist, a foreigner, who is visiting a country,'' the tourist said.
''But in saying that, a lot of people [who stopped after the incident] were very helpful and I've never seen that sort of affection anywhere before this.''
He was also angry the police officer who dealt with the situation would not allow his wife, who had a full Australian driver's licence, to take over the driving of the rental car.
Police would still like to hear from the driver of a silver Peugeot 407 station wagon that was travelling south at the time of the alleged incident and also the driver of a green and silver Nissan Avenir station wagon that was travelling north and was overtaken by the Kia Carnival rental car.
