Friends snatch foreign driver's keys after being run off the road
Two Motueka men confronted a foreign driver and snatched his keys after he ran one of their cars off the road and down a bank near Kaiteriteri.
Roger Brereton said he had to swerve down a bank to avoid a head-on crash with the rental vehicle that was on the wrong side of the road, and it was a "joke" that the tourist was given a $150 fine by police and allowed to continue on his "merry way".
Brereton and his wife Leanne were driving back to Motueka after spending the day at Kaiteriteri about 7pm on Monday.
He said he saw the camper van approaching on the wrong side of the winding road, a few kilometres from the beach, and assumed the driver would realise his mistake and veer out of the way.
But at the last moment, Brereton had to swerve left down a bank.
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He said the van also narrowly missed his friend's vehicle which was following behind.
"We were only in a little car. We would have been history, I'd say, if we had collided with him," he said.
"I had my wife with me. He could have made my son parent-less."
Brereton's car drove about two metres down a bank and came to rest on a cycle lane.
He said he was angry and marched up the bank to confront the driver, who was saying "sorry" repeatedly.
Brereton said he pushed the driver up against the van and "belted" him while his friend took the keys and called police.
He said all police could do was issue a $150 fine. "This guy got a talking to ... and then drove on his merry way."
Nelson Bays police acting area commander Senior Sergeant Shane Miles said the driver was given the appropriate infringement notice for the offence.
He said police also contacted the rental company, Tui Campers.
A Tui Campers spokesman said they had contacted the offending driver and suggested he considered an "alternative form of travel" if he was not comfortable driving on the left-hand side of the road.
"We do take it seriously," he said. "We've dealt with it with what we believe is appropriate in this matter."
Miles said the overseas driver had become "disoriented" after making a u-turn because there was no traffic on the road at the time.
Brereton said the camper van should have been taken off the couple and the fine should have been substantially more.
"$150 is a joke. I can get that for not having a WOF which is not going to hurt anyone."
He said he wanted to share his experience so that others were aware of the risks on the roads, particularly during the peak summer holiday period.
The incident was particularly distressing for Brereton whose friend, 39-year-old Craig Alan Chambers, of Motueka, was killed when a Singaporean national allegedly crossed double yellow lines into the path of Chambers' motorcycle near Oamaru on November 28.
He said it should be compulsory for all rental vehicles to contain signage or equipment to remind drivers of which side of the road to drive.
Miles said there had been an increase in traffic complaints and incidents over the summer break.
"The whole area has got a far heavier traffic density due to the number of holidaymakers, both international and domestic, and so we all need to be patient and careful to make sure we don't become a statistic."
A Ministry of Transport report, released last year, found that overseas drivers were involved in about five per cent of all fatal, serious injury and minor injury traffic crashes in 2013.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/75500224/Friends-snatch-foreign-drivers-keys-after-being-run-off-the-roadI think I stuffed up the copy/paste so I invite you to hit the link to check the correct version
