‘Memory aid’ for campervan drivers

Hundreds of overseas rugby fans are expected to pass through Picton by campervan during the British and Irish Lions rugby tour.



With this in mind, Senior Sergeant Steven May OC Picton/Marlborough Sounds has produced a notice for campervan and motor home drivers reminding them to pull over for faster following vehicles while driving.

The notice, in the form of a sticker, has been distributed to campervan and motor home rental companies to put on the dashboards of the vehicles to act as a ‘memory aid’.

Steven approached national campervan agencies with his idea and three companies have agreed to distribute the notice.

Steven says Auckland-based Tourism Holdings which runs Maui, Britz, and Backpacker campervans is using the notice in more than 1600 motor homes.

Steven developed the sticker after talking with inter-island ferry companies about their sailing schedules and vehicle loading numbers during the tour.

He found that an estimated 1855 tour followers were expected to pass through Picton for the South Island leg of the tour after the Wellington game on the 16 June and returning through Picton 10 days later for the game at Palmerston North on 28 June.

“There are going to be a lot of campervans on the road at the same time,” says Steven.

“Many of the drivers are not used to the limited passing opportunities on New Zealand roads and need to be reminded to pull over to let faster vehicles pass. Otherwise you get queues of traffic building up and the potential for people to make dangerous passing manoeuvers out of frustration.”

The venture is additional to several NZ Police are running during the tour educating visitors to New Zealand about driving conditions here and encouraging safer driving.

The dashboard stickers are UV resistant and Steven says they will continue to educate tourist for years to come after the Lions tour finishes.