Tourists may have to take driving tests before they are allowed to drive on Australian roads under a new proposal.
Victorian MP Sarah Henderson is pushing for tourists with international licenses to prove their driving ability before using hire cars.
‘It is a real danger that these international tourists are coming across from other parts of the world, getting into a hire car … and they really are a moving time bomb,’ Ms Henderson told ABC News.
The Great Ocean Road, part of the Liberal MP’s electorate, is an iconic destination for tourists because of its picturesque views, attracting more than seven million people a year.
However, more than 20 per cent of car accidents along the 243 kilometre coastal road were caused by foreign tourists between July 2012 and June 2017, according to VicRoads.
‘On a weekly basis, we are hearing of incidents involving international drivers on the wrong side of the road, stopping in the middle of the road taking photographs of koalas … [and] running through stop signs,’ Ms Henderson said.
Currently, tourists can drive on Australian roads using their international licenses if they are in English otherwise they need an English translation or an international driving permit, according to VicRoads.
Tourists from New Zealand are treated like interstate drivers.
The push comes months after multilingual electronic signs were introduced to the Great Ocean Road to help Chinese tourists on the popular road.
More than 1000 people died on the country’s roads last year where almost 400 deaths were recorded in NSW.
Source: The Daily Mail
