Tourist clocked at 127kph with five unrestrained kids in the car - including one at the wheel

Thursday, 21 August 2025

A speeding tourist has been slapped with multiple infringement notices, including driving with five unrestrained children in his rental vehicle.

On Wednesday morning, Senior Constable Dan Bartlett, of Oamaru, was patrolling State Highway 8 near Omarama and Twizel when his unmarked vehicle was overtaken by a rental car.

That vehicle was clocked at 127kph, but it was the sight of a young child standing on the driver’s lap holding the steering wheel that was the officer’s biggest concern.

The vehicle was pulled over after Bartlett activated his lights and sirens, and the day was about to get much worse for the driver.

“That’s when he discovered there were five children in the car, plus the driver, and none of the five children were restrained,” Senior Sergeant Karl Hemmingsen said. “There were one too many heads for the car.”

Bartlett took several of the children in his vehicle to the nearby Omarama Police Station, and was followed by the driver with the remainder of the children, all of whom were by then restrained in car seats.

At the police station, the driver was told he wasn’t to go anywhere until he had the appropriate number of vehicles, and car seats.

The driver, who was from Taiwan, was part of a touring party with some other families. The other parents had gone on a helicopter ride, leaving him in charge of the children, Hemmingsen said.

The driver was issued with three infringement notices for speeding, unrestrained children, and carrying passengers in an unsafe manner.

When he was pulled over, the man was driving to Omarama from Twizel, a distance of 33km.

That stretch of road was the same part of SH8 where Bartlett nabbed three overseas tourists driving at excessive speed in just 90 minutes on Wednesday

Those drivers, who had just arrived in the country, were caught speeding at 180kph, 147kph and 147kph, leading to a court appearance for one, and hefty fines for the others.

Overseas visitors were given information on New Zealand road rules by their rental companies, with drivers also sent information in their own language direct to their phones.