Tourists might need to take driving tests before they are permitted to drive on Australian roadways as per a new proposal.Published on : Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Tourists might need to take driving tests before they are permitted to drive on Australian roadways as per a new proposal.
Sarah Henderson who is the Victorian MP is now pushing for travellers with international licenses to prove their driving skills before using hire cars.
The Great Ocean Road that is part of the Liberal MP’s electorate is actually an iconic destination owing it its breathtaking views luring more than seven million people every year.
But then over 20% of car accidents along the 243kilometres coastal road had been caused by foreign visitors between July 2012 and June 2017 as per VicRoads.
Mrs. Henderson said that on a weekly basis they were hearing of incidents that involved international drivers on the wrong side of the road, stopping in the middle of the road clicking photographs of koalas and running through stop signs.
Currently, tourists can easily drive on Australian roadways utilizing their international licenses if they are in English.
Otherwise they would be requiring an English translation or an international driving permit as per VicRoads. Tourists from New Zealand are treated just like interstate drivers.
The push comes months after multilingual electronic signs were introduced to the Great Ocean Road to assist Chinese tourists on the road.
Last year over 1000 people had died on the nation’s roads and almost 400 deaths had been recorded on NSW.
Tags: Australia, great ocean road, Sarah Henderson, VicRoads