Fatal crashes involving foreign drivers represent a small but growing proportion of fatal crashes on New Zealand roads.
Statistics provided by the New Zealand Transport Agency to the Otago Daily Times this week show the number of foreign drivers involved in fatal crashes is reasonably static - ranging from 14 to 24 each year over the last decade.
However, the percentage is rising.
In 2003, the number was 23 - 3.7% of all drivers in fatal crashes.
In 2012, the number was 20 - 5% of all drivers in fatal crashes.
Also, the number of foreign drivers considered by police officers attending crashes to be at fault appears to be increasing slightly.
In 2003, the number considered at fault was 10 - 1.6% of all drivers in fatal crashes.
In 2012, the number was 16 - 4% of all drivers in fatal crashes.
The same upward trend is not apparent in the statistics for foreign drivers involved in injury crashes.
The number of such crashes has declined markedly from 628 in 2003 to 510 in 2012.
And the percentage involving foreign drivers, against all drivers, has remained reasonably steady - ranging from 3.4% to 4%. Failure to adjust to local conditions appears to be a growing factor in both fatal and injury crashes involving foreign drivers - up from 0.8% to 2.2% of all drivers in fatal crashes between 2003 and 2012, and up from 0.5% to 0.9% in injury crashes over the same period.
The agency's national media manager, Andy Knackstedt, could not discount the possibility the ''failure to adjust'' statistics were influenced by police who attended crashes becoming more aware of the issue over the decade.
Mr Knackstedt said the agency was in the early stages of a study to find out more about the problems tourists were having on New Zealand roads.
''What [we] are looking at is a project that drills more deeply into what those issues are.
''So at the moment there's not a lot more to say other than that it has been identified as an area where we need to do more research.''
In a statement, Mr Knackstedt said the agency was looking at ways of ''encouraging tourists to hire the safest rental vehicles they can afford, promoting safe and realistic route choices and travel itineraries, and improving signage and road markings''.
