标题: Tourists charter plane after car keys confiscated [打印本页] 作者: mandy138 时间: 2015-2-25 00:27:37 标题: Tourists charter plane after car keys confiscated
A Chinese family on holiday in New Zealand had to continue their journey by chartered plane after a fellow motorist confiscated their car keys.
A baby was on board the southbound vehicle heading to Franz Josef on the West Coast last night when a driver behind them spotted the vehicle travelling on the wrong side of the road.
Greymouth Sergeant Dave Cross said police had viewed footage of the error and said the driver, from Beijing, continued on the wrong side for some time, apparently unaware of the mistake.
At Franz Josef, where the family of five were staying for the night, the driver behind them confiscated their keys.
Because the local police station was unmanned at that stage, the driver put the car keys through the station's door.
This morning, Franz Josef police viewed the recording and informed the rental car company of the incident.
Because there was no-one else in the car with a suitable driver's licence, the rental agreement was cancelled, Cross said.
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The driver was issued an infringement notice but not charged.
With the glacier area booming with tourists, the family was unable to find alternative transportation out of town. Accommodation was already fully booked.
Cross said the family chartered a private plane from Franz Josef to Queenstown so they could continue on their travels.
Last month a driver on the Lindis Pass in Upper Clutha confiscated the keys of a tourist in a rental car.
Sreedharan Iyer, 41, of New South Wales, was fined $1000 for careless driving over the incident.
Cross said he did not encourage drivers to take matters into their own hands.
Police were happy to have recordings of bad driving as evidence or to be notified of dangerous driving, he said.
"Taking the law into their own hands is never going to be encouraged," Cross said.
Cross said the family would not be permitted to rent another vehicle for the remainder of their trip.