A South Canterbury police officer says 80 per cent of tickets given out in his area in the past couple of days were to foreign drivers.
Twizel Senior Constable Bruce Francis told Fairfax a number of complaints had been lodged about tourist drivers and rental cars on State Highway 8 in the Mackenzie District in recent days.
"It is not unusual to be dealing with two or three on the go at once.
"And that's the ones you are able to get to, there are plenty more that come through," Francis told Fairfax. "Don't assume that they [tourists] know the road rules, they are supposed to know but they often don't."
He warned people not to follow rental cars too closely because it was not uncommon for them to suddenly pull over when they saw scenery or a rest stop.