Ministry of Transport figures show the number of fatal crashes in May was not as bad as the past three years, but the same as 2016.

June had the same number of fatal crashes as 2017 and 2018, which were the worst in the past five years, and July is shaping up to be worse than all previous years, apart from 2017.

The weekend just past was tragic, claiming five lives and injuring many more people.

Inspector Peter McKennie, acting national manager road policing, said visiting drivers make up only a very small proportion of serious crashes on New Zealand roads, and visiting drivers crash on our roads for the same reasons as local drivers.

The factors involved in these fatal and serious injury crashes remain the same – failure to properly wear restraints, driving at excess speed, driving while tired or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or driving distracted such as using a cellphone, he said.

McKennie said lockdown saw about 75 per cent less road traffic, but unfortunately this period still saw people lose their lives on the road.

Tourist Industry Association chief Executive Chris Roberts said it is a total myth that visiting drivers are to blame for the high road toll.

He said since 2013, just 6 per cent of serious and fatal road crashes in New Zealand have involved a driver with an overseas licence.

ROADTOLL
"The industry and Government agencies have taken our joint responsibility to keep visiting drivers safe on our roads very seriously. It is all too easy to blame others. We should examine our own driving behaviours and the conditions of our roading network," Roberts said.

Before Covid-19, there were 3.9 million overseas arrivals in New Zealand in the year to April 2019, of which two million were tourists.

There have been many horrific crashes in New Zealand involving foreigners. In March last year, four tourists travelling to one of the mosques involved in the Christchurch shooting died on State Highway 1 at Kaikoura.

In February this year, a Singaporean tourist who was driving on the wrong side of the road when he caused a crash which left a Queenstown woman dead was ordered to pay almost $30,000 in reparation.

The Ministry of Transport's crash date in 2017 showed of the 378 road deaths, 34 people died in 25 crashes that involved a foreign driver. The foreign driver was at fault in 18 of those. Only five of those were deemed to have happened because the driver failed to adjust to New Zealand roads.

Overall, across New Zealand, foreign drivers were involved in under 4 per cent of crashes in 2017.

ACC spent at least $15 million treating injured tourists over the past five years.

All tourists who have been involved in accidents get free treatment in New Zealand through our healthcare and ACC systems, regardless of whether they have travel insurance.