Concerns about the number of court cases involving overseas tourists allowed to drive in New Zealand without any kind of check on their driving ability were raised by Judge Alistair Garland yesterday.
He advised 24-year-old Pakistan national Muhammed Hasham Khan, he might be "better to get public transport" rather than a campervan next time.
Kahn was before the judge in the Dunedin District Court on a charge of driving dangerously in the Manuka Gorge, near Milton, on Thursday morning.
He admitted the offence and was fined $600, court costs $132.89 and was disqualified from driving for six months.
Kahn was charged after police communications received a call from another driver about 10.30am on Thursday, prosecutor Sergeant Ross Hutton said. The complainant driver had narrowly avoided colliding with a northbound rental campervan stopped in the middle of the northbound lane on a blind corner in the Manuka Gorge. The van's hazard lights were on. The other motorist had to slam on his brakes and take evasive action to avoid running into the back of the van.