Tourist in head-on car crash

The scene of the crash. Photo / Greymouth Star

A tourist allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road hit another car head-on on the State Highway 6 Coast Road between Greymouth and Westport this morning.

It is the second crash on the Coast Rd in five days involving a German tourist allegedly on the wrong side of the road.

Police said the two cars crashed at low-speed head-on after the 18-year-old male tourist apparently stopped to take photos about 15km north of Greymouth.

Tasman police spokeswoman Barbara Dunn said there were no serious injuries.

The female passenger of the other car, which was driven by her male partner, was taken to Greymouth Base Hospital for a check-up.

The tourist had not yet been charged, but there would be consequences, Ms Dunn said.

Last Friday, a 37-year-old Westport motorcyclist suffered serious injuries when he was hit by a German tourist's campervan which was apparently travelling on the wrong side of the Coast Road near Fox River at 5pm.

The motorcyclist suffered a broken leg, elbow and wrist. He was transferred to Christchurch Hospital where he underwent six hours of surgery.

The tourist driver was charged with careless driving causing injury.

She was summonsed to appear in Greymouth District Court today and was remanded to appear in Manukau District Court on March 23.

Meanwhile, West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor said the Government's continued "hands-off" approach to bad tourist driving meant it was continuing to compromise the safety of all road users.

The Government should be making electronic driver warning technology compulsory in all rental vehicles, following an agreement yesterday by some rental vehicle companies to establish a 'code of best practice', Mr O'Connor said.

The new code is likely to include increased screening of driver experience, more pre-arrival information about driving conditions, and more information sharing among rental operators.

The Government praised the agreement by rental companies to develop the code as "a matter of urgency".

"Any action or commitment to improve the safety of our roads is a step in the right direction," Associate Transport Minister Craig Foss said.

However, Mr O'Connor said what the rental car sector had really agreed to was basic good driving practice.

"The things they've committed to should be a core part of any rental agreement, but I cannot understand why they are not looking for some technological device to assist the drivers."

He said vehicle rental companies were happy to loan overseas drivers GPS units and other "add-ons" but "seem loath" to fit basic warning systems to all rental vehicles.

Such a system would automatically remind visiting drivers to stay on the left when they left rest areas, for instance.

Mr O'Connor said the Government needed to be more active on the problem of tourist driving, and making announcements of more rumble strips for the West Coast, as announced recently under the 'visitor drivers signature project', was superficial.

"It is a complex situation but they seem to have contained their options."

- Additional reporting: Brendon McMahon of the Greymouth Star