Fifteen per cent of participants also admitted they were not confident driving in NZ. Photo / File
Fifteen per cent of participants also admitted they were not confident driving in NZ. Photo / File
A new study of Queenstown tourists has shown only 3 per cent of foreign drivers passed the New Zealand driving theory test.
The study, conducted by Professor Neil Carr and Ismail Shaheer from the Department of Tourism at Otago University, found only seven of 226 foreign drivers passed the test.
Fifteen per cent of participants also admitted they were not confident of driving safely in New Zealand.
The data was gathered using a questionnaire that was given to international visitors in Queenstown. Researchers approached 284 people from 34 different countries.
Six people were injured after a rental car driven by a tourist collided with a vehicle at Waipapakauri in April 2018. Photo / Peter Jackson
Fifty-eight people declined to complete the survey. Of those 31 were from China and said they were unable to complete the survey because they did not understand much English.
The tests each contained 35 questions taken from actual New Zealand driving theory tests. The test participants needed to correctly answer 28 questions to pass.
Questions included things like; What should you do if your vehicle breaks down on a motorway; when turning right into a one-way street with two lanes, which lane should you go into; and, when must you use headlights?
In an interview with Newstalk ZB, Carr said they study begins to take what we think from what we see around us and actually puts a more detailed and nuanced perspective on things.
"We keep hearing all those anecdotal reports of bad driving, but then they are only one off instances which can easily get blown out of proportion. This begins to shed a bit more light on it and begins to question some of the things we think," he said.
"We were all taken aback at the scale of the number of people not passing the test. It is not surprise that some people would fail it, but to have only seven people pass was very surprising."
Carr said the study identified a serious gap in the knowledge of New Zealand's road rules among self-driving international visitors to New Zealand.
French tourist Remi Morilleau died in this road crash at Oakleigh on Christmas Day 2015 on the day he arrived in the country. Photo / File
He said there was a clear need for a cohesive plan to increase visitor drivers' knowledge of rules and safe driving practices.
"This plan needs to increase their knowledge of the rules and safety practices related to driving in the country and, as a result, increase the quality of their driving behaviours.
"Such a route is important for the continued health of the national tourism industry and the welfare of all road users," he said.
However, Carr warned of "rushing to castigate" international road users for a lack of knowledge of the road rules.
"There is a need to ask how many of those with New Zealand driving licences would have passed the test administered in this study.
"It is arguably one thing to pass a theory test for which you have prepared and another thing to do so after several years of driving but no other preparation.
"Therefore, while recognising the importance of the findings of this study it is necessary to call for a larger-scale study that encompasses domestic and international drivers," Carr said.
A Malaysian family of four, tourists in New Zealand, crashed into a culvert on Masterton-Castlepoint Rd after the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Photo / File
Carr believed a mandatory driving test for all foreign visitors wasn't the answer.
"I've heard over the last 12 months that there has been the suggestion of every international visitor should have a driving test before they are allowed on the road. I cannot see that ever working," he said.
"Rather I think it's about engaging with all these international visitors in a meaningful way that draws them into the need and the value of understanding our rules, in a way that is engaging and friendly.
"It's necessary for all the stakeholders and everybody from the tourism industry, to the airline industry, to everybody responsible for roads and enforcement of regulation on our roads to come together and say right, this is a problem, and it isn't just a problem related to theory, how do we solve it?
"We solve it by putting together the information in multiple languages in a way that is accessible to tourists.
"Personally I think one of the easiest ways to get it to the tourists is through the airline industry."
Carr also said having access to rental car GPS data would help analyse driving behaviour.
"At the moment we have tested theoretical knowledge. We have access, thanks to the authorities, to the number of international visitors involved in accidents. What we don't have is information about all those near misses. The incidences of less than perfect driving that don't result in a problem.
"If I am correct, the vast majority of rental agencies now have GPS fitted, and that information would give us access to driving behavior.
Professor Neil Carr, Department of Tourism, Otago Business School, University of Otago. Photo / Supplied
"If we can gain access to driving behavior then we can begin to see not just where international visitors are lacking in theoretical knowledge, but where the behavior they are engaging in isn't correct. Then we can begin to truly target adverse behaviour, to make it into correct behaviour."
Ministry of Transport figures show that in 2017 there were 23 fatal crashes that involved overseas drivers.
From these crashes, 34 people died, and overseas drivers were found to be at fault in 29 of these deaths.
Regions with the highest number of crashes involving overseas drivers are Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown.
The top country of origin of foreign drivers involved in fatal or injury crashes are China, Australia, Germany, India and the UK.
Transport Research and Educational Trust chairwoman Sharyn Forsyth said international tourists wanting to drive in New Zealand should know and understand core elements of safe driving such as give way rules and speed requirements.
"We need to keep everyone who is driving in New Zealand safe, and this includes ensuring that international drivers are supported to drive confidently while they are here," she said.
She said of most concern was that 15 per cent of the drivers surveyed – the majority of whom had already been driving in New Zealand for more than a week – who were not confident that they could drive safely in New Zealand.
"If people aren't confident, I'd question why they're driving in the first place. If someone isn't confident in their driving, they are likely to not have swift reactions in an emergency.
"When this is combined with a lack of knowledge about give way rules, and generally a lifetime of driving on the other side of the road to that in New Zealand, this is of great concern.
"What the results tell me is that we need to do more to make sure that people driving in New Zealand know what they're doing, and can do so safely with confidence."
