Editorial: Force tests on foreign drivers

Tourists should have to take driving tests before driving on our roads to prevent crashes.

Four people died during Queen's Birthday Weekend as the result of crashes involving cars driven by tourists.

On the first occasion, a campervan allegedly crossed the centre line and the impact killed Auckland woman Robyn Derrick.

The second devastating crash happened after a car driven by a tourist allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign. Three people in the car it hit died - Sally Summerfield, 49, her daughter Ella, 12, and Ella's's friend Abigail Hone, also 12.

Mrs Summerfield's husband Shane, 48, who was driving the car, is in a serious condition.

What absolute tragedies and our hearts go out to family and friends.

I think it's time the rules changed. Any tourist who comes from a country where they drive on the right-hand side of the road or their rules are totally different to ours should have to pass a test with a driving instructor - not just for our sakes, but for theirs as well. I'm certain the drivers of those cars are devastated.

Maybe, just maybe, if those drivers had spent an hour behind the wheel with a New Zealand instructor, the crashes could have been avoided.

We can all be as careful as possible on the road, following the rules, concentrating on the task at hand, doing our very best to stay safe.

But if there are others on the road who don't know what the hell they are doing, it's like playing Russian Roulette every time you get behind the wheel.