Kimberley and Tristan Marris with their daughters Georgia, 9, Sophie, 7, and Ruby, 5.
Kimberley and Tristan Marris with their daughters Georgia, 9, Sophie, 7, and Ruby, 5.
Family crushed by death of girl with a whole life ahead.
The heartbroken father of Ruby Jay Marris wants the Government to get tough on tourist drivers.
The 5-year-old was killed on February 21 near Moeraki, Otago, after a tourist allegedly crossed a centre line and crashed into the car carrying Ruby's family.
Speaking for the first time since the accident,her father, Tristan Marris, told the Herald on Sunday he wants mandatory road testing for overseas drivers before they take the wheel.
"For Ruby to be so young, so innocent and cute with her whole life ahead of her, just to be taken away in a moment's flash of a car crash ... under the circumstances it could have been prevented.
"I want change. It's not rocket science. It is going to happen again. In New Zealand as a tourist you would be confused about the road markings and driving on the correct side of the road."
The call comes after a spate of crashes involving tourist drivers which claimed eight lives in two weeks last month. The issue has become heated and has led to a rash of cases in which vigilante motorists have taken car keys off tourists driving erratically.
On the day Ruby was killed, the family were on their way home to Oamaru after a day "laughing and shopping" in Dunedin.
Tristan was driving, and Ruby and sister Sophie, 7, were in the back on either side of their mum Kimberley, strapped in with seatbelts and booster seats. Eldest daughter Georgia, 9, was in the front passenger seat.
"Ruby had the loudest, cutest voice and the cutest smile that you could ever dream of, a cheeky wee smile," said Marris. "We had a great day. The car was packed full of clothes and all sorts of stuff you don't get here in Oamaru. All their eyes had lit up." The family were still "buzzing" when it is alleged a 32-year-old man from Beijing overtook several cars, crossed a centre line and collided head-on with the Marris family.
The scene of the crash.
Ruby died at the scene. Tristan and Kimberley suffered broken backs and Sophie had a broken arm and bruising. Georgia's ankle was badly broken.
The tourist, who was not hurt, was charged with dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing injury and is back in court next week.
On Thursday, the family buried the "adorable wee girl" who had the "loudest voice to be noticed above her older sisters".
"It was the hardest day in my whole life," said Marris, who believes the vigilante justice of taking keys off tourist drivers was justified.
Associate Transport Minister Craig Foss has already ruled out testing foreign drivers, calling it impractical. But Queenstown car rental company owner Greg Wansley said testing drivers was easy. He uses an app where customers are asked multiple choice questions about New Zealand's road rules. If they fail, he won't hand over the keys. No drivers had failed since he set it up last week.
