A Transport Agency report suggests tourist drivers have been at fault in 83 percent of injury crashes involving their vehicles in Otago and Southland over the past four years.
Some 493 injury crashes involving overseas drivers were recorded between 2009 and 2013.
In 409 of those road incidents, investigations pointed to the tourist being at fault or sharing fault.
But in total overseas drivers were to blame for just over 8 percent of the nearly 5000 crashes which caused death or injury in Otago and Southland between 2009 and 2013.
Road factors such as ice, frost, rain and loose material on the road seal contributed to 20 percent of the crashes involving tourists.
At fault drivers were mostly males under 40 years old from right-hand side driving countries.
Seventy-five percent of the vehicles driven were cars or station wagons and half of them were rentals. However, alcohol and not wearing seatbelts were rarely to blame.