Driving in New Zealand - driving on the left, speeding & parking fines
 

I'm off to NZ next month (Auckland, Rotorua and Taupo etc) and will be hiring a car. I've never driven abroad before, but drive often in the UK where we obviously drive on the left as they do in New Zealand too.

Can anyone give me any tips on driving over there? Is it similar to the UK?

Thanks in advance!

yes drive on the left

most roads are one lane in each direction, motorways are limited to short stretches near Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch

NZ is hilly so roads can be winding - allow more time than you expect for the distance

watch out for speed cameras - there is effectively no tolerance above speed limits

Thanks KiwiFlyer!

Are there any other unique differences to be aware of? You know, along the lines of like how they have turn right on red in the US.

Do not do that. Or even turn left at a red light (remember its right hand drive). If the police are in sight you will get a ticket!

Ill just emphasise Kiwi Flyers point..... It WILL take longer to get from A to B then the distance might suggest to you. The roads are good... but predominately one lane each way...and winding.

Not at all unpleasant.... but not terribly fast.

Think of driving in rural Wales or Scotland - hills, windy roads, delays behind slower moving vehicles, little in the way of dual carriage way, and associated slower average speeds. Equally though, lots of stunning views, so plan extra time to stop and enjoy :)

I wasn't going to do do that, just giving an example of little oddities it helps to be aware of when driving in foreign lands. :D

Anyway, I've only ever driven in the UK so I'm not expecting it to be too hard but was just trying to gauge a comparison.

Thanks for the input, everyone!

Especially in the South Island, you can get stuck behind an camper with no we're 'safe' to pass for a 100km.

I'll just add my perspective as an American... I drove both the North and South Island over about a month in 2014. Other than a pretty wild encounter with Cyclone Ita the driving was very easy. I've driven over most of Ireland as well and would say NZ is considerably easier for someone unfamiliar with the area to drive. The only advice I might throw in would be to try to avoid driving at night as much as possible because the winding roads are a PITA in the complete darkness.

It's fantastic that we're having discussions about driving in NZ. As a resident, every year (especially during this peak tourist time) there is a lot of coverage on local media about poor tourist driving leading to serious/fatal crashes.

To consolidate what's been said and to add my two cents:

- Keep left
- If you prefer to drive slower (like me), and notice there are a lot of cars following you, keep left and allow them to overtake you when possible. If they honk their horns when they overtake you, they are probably just thanking you for being considerate - I would like to think we're not that aggressive!
- Red means STOP and green means GO. Sometimes you'll sit at a red light, waiting to turn left, thinking 'why is this a red light?'. Just wait until it turns green, or else you risk getting in trouble with the police.

Also, many corners on hills/mountains will have a suggested speed. Make sure you are slow enough when going around corners to feel comfortable.

Some roads will have a change in speed limit as you drive along (e.g. 80 -> 100 -> 80), so pay attention and follow the speed limits.

Take rests frequently and keep hydrated - driver fatigue is a common cause of accidents, regardless of where you are in the world - and share the driving if possible.

Also be prepared for police checkpoints - they might be checking licenses, registration, warrant of fitness as well as breath testing you for alcohol. Don't drink and drive, and DON'T drive away from a checkpoint. Unmarked police cars will follow you and catch up with you.

As a guideline, there is a tolerance of 10kph above the speed limit before you may get in trouble.

The two main speed limits you are likely to experience are 50kph and 100kph. So generally you can travel up to 60kph and 110kph respectively and not get in too much trouble. (This tolerance drops to 4kph over public holidays / long weekends and the entire December-January period).

Also there are provisions to fine drivers who drive too slowly and hold up traffic, however this is rarely seen and enforced by the police. Other drivers tend to get extremely frustrated and may attempt unsafe passing manoeuvres if stuck behind a slow driver, especially (as mentioned above) when some stretches of the main highway can go upwards of 50km without dedicated passing lanes.

I do urge that if you tend to drive slow (anything less than a constant 95 in a 100 zone) to pull over and allow other cars to pass where possible.

The tolerance dropped to 4kph over on Dec 1 '15 and will remain in effect for the summer. It's a new initiative.

Not quite, the reduced tolerance is only for December and January. The OP says they are travelling "next month", which being February means the tolerance will be back to normal while they are in NZ. I mentioned it mostly for info, however the reduced tolerance may once again apply over Waitangi weekend as the holiday will be Mondayized - not sure though.

Pay attention to speed limits is the main thing. When you are driving through towns, the speed limit can vary greatly (e.g. you will have to go from 100 to 50 pretty quickly). Otherwise, for me (a first-time driver on the wrong side of the road), it was pretty easy for me to adapt. The most challenging part of driving would be in the city; driving in Wellington was definitely a bit more mentally taxing, but when you are out in the countryside, there were no issues.

I never drove over 100, so it wasn't problematic, but there are cops sporadically here and there, although I saw 2-3 cop cars at most.

Lastly - contrary to just about all the advice given here on FT :) I found that the Google Maps driving times were quite accurate, if even a bit slow. If you can handle driving around curves at the speed limit, you can definitely make time faster. As an example, I drove from Te Anau to Milford Sound in the early morning (there were literally zero cars in front of me the entire way...granted, it was Christmas morning), and while the time on the signage was 2 hours, I made it in 1h30m - and that included making a few stops along the way to capture amazing scenery of the mist hanging low as we got closer to Milford.

Of course travel times are faster when there are no other cars, buses, trucks, caravans, etc to slow you down.