Government not doing enough about tourist drivers - advocate

Mr Matthew-Wilson has written a report titled Driven to Distraction on his plan to prevent tourist crashes.

A road-safety advocate says the Government is not doing enough to prevent tourist crashes.

Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of car review website dogandlemon.com, is calling for a raft of changes including restrictions on renting vehicles within 24 hours of arrival.

"A New Zealand truck driver would be legally prevented from driving his vehicle after a 28 hour flight, but somehow it's okay if you're an overseas tourist," he said.

Matthew-Wilson also criticised Government claims that a competency test for tourists would breach New Zealand's obligations under the international driver's licence treaty.

"The government is terrified of testing foreign drivers, because the evidence suggests many don't have the awareness or skills to drive safely in this country," he said.

"Of the drivers who'd fail a competency test when they first arrived in the country, some would just be tired and would be okay after a good night's sleep. Some would be basically good drivers who needed some retraining on certain issues - such as which side of the road to drive on. Some drivers simply lack either the awareness or skills to drive safely in this country."

Mr Matthew-Wilson has written a report titled Driven to Distraction on his plan to prevent tourist crashes, which involves restrictions on rentals to visitors within 24 hours of arrival.

It also calls for competency assessments, a register of foreign drivers, major changes to road engineering and road signs, improvements to the rental vehicle fleet, and encouraging alternatives to self-driving.

Foreign visitors were involved in nearly 600 crashes in 2013, and were found to be at fault in three-quarters of the crashes.