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Kids to get serious driving lessons at New Zealand amusement park

Xinhua, June 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Motoring in New Zealand can be a bit of a white-knuckle ride with its wide open roads and assertive driving style - and soon it will be an amusement park attraction.

Prime Minister John Key on Thursday attended the launch of a new attraction at the country's biggest theme park - a scaled-down urban streetscape where kids can drive miniature Suzuki Swift cars around town.

However, executives at Rainbow's End park, in Auckland, stressed that some of the country's more notorious motoring habits such as high-speed tailgating would not be included in the thrills.

The AA Driver's Town attraction would be a fun but educational experience, allowing children aged 5 to 13 to get behind the wheel of a Suzuki Swift and drive safely through the miniature town, said marketing manager Katharine Murray.

The colorful, tiny town featuring traffic lights, two-way roads, roundabouts, parking spaces, car wash, petrol station and other landmarks, would be open before the end of the year, Murray told Xinhua in a phone interview.

The involvement of the New Zealand Automobile Association (AA) motoring organization and Suzuki was crucial to its authenticity and appeal.

"The drivers will get an education program before they go on to the road. It's about teaching young people driving skills and road courtesy," said Murray.

"They're going to get quite an authentic driving experience."

The electric-powered cars had been designed to allow an adult to sit behind the driver if needed and park staff would be on hand to police the roads.

Schools were also showing an interest in the attraction for their education programs.

Dougal Swift, general manager AA membership and brand, said the cars would be decked out in the livery of the AA Driving School and he hoped they would encourage positive attitudes to driving.

"It provides a great opportunity for kids to learn basic road rules, patience and healthy attitudes to driving safely," Swift said in a statement.

New Zealand's road toll hit a 60-year-low of 254 deaths in 2013, but has since climbed back up.

In the year to the end of June 16, the roads had claimed 297 lives, compared with 269 in the same period a year earlier, according to the New Zealand Transport Agency. Endit