27th July 2018

speech

Ever seen a rental car packed with tourist driving through town and your gut feeling is that they are going to do something dangerous and the next second you see them going the wrong way on a roundabout or coming straight at you in your lane. well, that’s what I’m going to be talking about today. we see it everywhere, on the news, in your local town and even hear stories about it from friends.

We all know that the stereotypical tourist is dangerous and incompetent on the roads. Is it true? I’ve always kept my eyes out for these potential “hazards” on the road and to be completely honest they stick out like dog balls.  This makes me wonder if all tourist bad drivers or are all the good driving tourist hidden away or blended in with the rest of us.

It can be scary to talk about the reality of tourist based road incidents but even scarier being involved in one. I would know this because I have been a part of the statistics. it was fresh winter morning with my family and friends packed in the car heading to Treble Cone, hyped up for a taste for fresh pow with not a worry in the world until we came past a blind corner before the one way bridge, dad slammed on the brakes in the fastest and safest way possible but it still wasn’t enough to stop before this destructive tourists had gone any further.

they were obviously overwhelmed by the one-way bridge and tried reversing to avoid the oncoming traffic. this was a poorly judged decision due to the lack of skill and confidence from the tourist driver.  this is what needs to stop.

Statistics: How many road accidents, how many overseas drivers?

In my opinion, there are too many tourist drivers on the road and I know that they are what keeps the country running but how can we keep it running if they are all over the roads being menaces. the statistics of how many crashes tourist cause are lower than expected but as a yearly outcome, it’s too much for my liking.

The impact of tourist drivers increases locals crashes because of the necessity of taking evasive action. tourist drivers are well known for there ability to be as blind as a bat and have the spatial awareness of a sloth. these actions may not have a big impact on the tourist them selfs as they know it but can cause major problems congesting traffic and putting other drivers around them in situations that can become inevitable or a fatal risk.

all tho there are still few tourist drivers that are deemed worthy of New Zealand roads we need to put a stop to these “visitors” that are causing unnecessary amounts of damage to our roads, locals and industry. there are so many solutions that could have been put in place to reduce the circumstances dramatically and save the lives of thousands. I for one believe that there should be a new law placed, forcing tourist to sit a test to see if they will be capable of driving on our roads. I see this as a simple, yet effective step towards a safer future for our roads.

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