New road safety website to target tourist drivers a 'dangerous waste of time'

A new website DriveSafe.org.nz has been launched to provide visitors with information about driving in New Zealand.

Concerns over fatal crashes involving tourist drivers on New Zealand roads have driven a new website aimed at giving crucial information for a safe driving holiday.

But one road safety campaigner is calling the site a "dangerous waste of time".

DriveSafe.org.nz provides basic information about New Zealand road rules and etiquette.

It also gives guidance to visiting drivers at three key stages of their trip - before they arrive, when they pick up their rental vehicle, and during their journey around the country.

DriveSafe.org.nz tips include encouraging drivers not to get behind the wheel until they have rested after their long flight, and highlighting the fact that driving in New Zealand can often take longer than expected due to our narrow and winding roads.

"New Zealand driving holidays are popular with people from all across the globe and are a great way to explore and enjoy all that our country has to offer," Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) chief executive Chris Roberts said.

"But our roads and driving conditions can be quite different from what our visitors are used to at home."

The TIA-led project, supported by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), Rental Vehicle Association (RVA), and major rental vehicle operators, is an initiative under the Visiting Drivers Signature Project, which is part of the government's Safer Journeys Action Plan 2013-15.

DriveSafe.org.nz includes links to the New Zealand Road Code and suggested itineraries. It has been translated into Mandarin and German and more languages are planned. All operators and organisations that come into contact with visiting drivers, including travel wholesalers, visitor information centres and accommodation providers, will be encouraged to inform their guests about the website.

The URL will also be added to the steering wheel tags, carrying simple road safety tips, inside rental vehicles.

More than 110 rental operators will be contacted over the next few weeks to promote the website and discuss other visiting driver safety initiatives such as a regional network where rental vehicle operators inform each other when clients have contracts cancelled because of unsafe driving.

Visiting Drivers Signature Project chairman Jim Harland said the DriveSafe website was a valuable initiative that will help improve New Zealand road safety.

"We are aiming to deliver visiting drivers with relevant and accurate safety information at the right time, in the right way," he said.

"The result will be safer roads and a better holiday experience for visitors."

Rental vehicle operators and accommodation providers released a toolkit last year to help educate international visitors about safe driving.

It comes after concern over a number of fatal crashes involving tourist driving late last year. The New Zealand Transport Agency has already been working with the Ministry of Transport, police, local councils, the Automobile Association and the tourism sector to target tourist hotbeds in the South Island.

They are making sure rest areas and scenic spots popular for photographs are safe to negotiate and include clear road signage.

However, road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson today slammed the new website a "dangerous waste of time".

He has repeatedly called for tourist drivers to be banned from driving vehicles within 24 hours of arriving in the country.

"Driving tired is as dangerous as driving drunk," said Mr Matthew-Wilson.

"The police say it's unsafe; the Government's own experts say it's unsafe; the public knows that it's unsafe, yet the Government continues to try to solve the problem by saying 'drive safely' to tourists."

Mr Matthew-Wilson also believed all drivers - including New Zealanders - should pass a simple, computer-based competency test before being allowed to rent vehicles.