A tourist driver was assaulted after being pulled over by another motorist yesterday.

Police say it happened in Greymouth, a driver signalled for the man to pull over and then punched him in the face and taking his rental car keys.

The victim suffered bruising, and his passenger was said to be "shaken".

Motorists are being urged not to take the law into their own hands as fury builds around the country at foreign nationals perceived to be a danger on the roads. 

Police believe the tourist wasn't driving dangerously, and they're trying to find the assailant.

Foreign driver crashes in February, 2015: 

* Feb 17 - American citizens Warren Lee, 53, and Aesoon Lee, 52, who were visiting from Hong Kong, and their daughter Julia Lee, 20, who was due to start university in Auckland, die in a collision with a truck north of Tokoroa, Waikato.

* Feb 18 - Chinese man Ying-Hua Zhou, 29, dies when his rental car collides with a stock truck and trailer unit loaded with lambs on SH1 south of Greta Valley, Canterbury.

* Feb 18 - Taiwanese tourist Fu-Hwa Ju, 66, dies in a two-vehicle crash at an intersection in Templeton, Canterbury. He was on holiday with his family and was wearing a seat belt in the back seat.

* Feb 21 - Oamaru girl Ruby Jay Marris, 5, dies in a head-on collision involving a foreign driver in Otago on Saturday. A Chinese tourist with interim name suppression is facing charges of dangerous driving causing death and four charges of dangerous driving causing injury.

*Feb 21 - A car driven by Chinese tourist Qian Li, 34, crosses the centre line and collides with another vehicle, injuring Ms Li's passenger and two British tourists in the other vehicle. She later admits three charges of careless driving causing injury.

* Feb 23 - Stephanie Anne Ellis, 54, dies in a two-car crash in Springston, Canterbury. German man Daniel Muller, 26, pleaded guilty to a charge of careless use of a vehicle causing death at Christchurch District Court yesterday.

* Feb 24 - American tourist Griffin Lee, 17, dies in hospital a week after his family was killed in a crash near Tokoroa.

* Feb 25 - French national Nathan Luc Alain Boucher, 23, died at the scene of a crash involving a truck on State Highway 2 near Omokora Rd, Whakamarama.

* Feb 27 - A rental car occupied by four Chinese people crashed 20m down a bank and ended up submerged in the Whataroa River. All the occupants managed to escape before the car became fully submerged.

* Feb 27 - A truck and a rental car being driven by a Japanese driver collided on McLeans Island Road in Canterbury. The Japanese man remains in a critical condition in Christchurch Hospital.