US tourist in NZ who makes us all look bad

[Anonymous]

Having NZ relatives, I love this:

Yesterday's assault occurred when a motorist signalled for the tourist driver on the West Coast to pull over - then punched him in the face and removed the keys from his car.

[Anonymous]

There’s a drop box for tourist keys in the local police station I imagine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:516,000 yanks visit NZ every year.

This is unfortunate but Kiwis are not going to judge half a million people by this one asshat.

Nothing wrong with hearing 'drive on the left' a few times a day.

OP here. The vast majority of those 500k visitors are cruise passengers who do not drive. I just thought this news item that is trending here in NZ should follow this guy home. He should be able to escape this story by flying home.

Do you know him or something? The vibe of this shaming is so personal. (And yes this dude was wrong duh)

No, but do you think someone should be able to commit a crime in a foreign country and then run home like nothing ever happened without being called on it!”?

NP - I mean, yes? He didn't kill anyone, he didn't hurt anyone, and is prepared to make restitution for the property damage. At best, he drove like an idiot; at worst, he was drinking and driving. It's clearly not good, but this wouldn't even have made the papers if it had happened here. But you seem intent on visiting transcontinental shame on this man, and giving this story more play than it would have had if it happened here. I agree with PP - it seems like you have a personal axe to grind.

He drove on the opposite side of the road and didn’t kill anyone due to sheer luck. He’s now proven to be drunk. He’s also proven to have lied to the police.

She drove on the opposite side of the road and killed someone. She was not drunk.

In neither case was the justice served. But if she was vilified publicly, the drunk liar deserves it more.

She killed someone, he didn't, and you think he deserves to be vilified *more*? Wow. That's quite a take.

So in your mind, the person who shoots at someone and misses deserves more prison time that he person who recklessly shoots into the air and kills someone?

Sorry, that isn't how it works. The results of our actions matter. Yes, there's an element of chance involved, but that doesn't change the fact that is you do something illegal and kill someone, the consequences will be far more severe than if you do something illegal and cause property damage.

[Anonymous]

Neither got punished properly.

The woman drove on the wrong side; there was a crash with a fatality. She wasn’t drunk, according to the PPs it so “easy” to drive on the opposite side. She was vilified because she fled the country and didn’t face the authorities.

The man drove on the wrong side; there was a massive damage to both cars, the trailer and the jet ski, but no fatality, luckily — there easily could have been several. He was drunk, didn’t heed any warnings, was actively drinking beer while driving, lied to the police and then thought he could just return to DC and pretend this never happened. He also fled the country before the blood alcohol tests were ready and the NZ authorities will probably see it is futile to raise the charges without any means of justice being served.

So, yes I think he comes off worse.

[Anonymous]

If the “results of our actions” matter, the woman didn’t get any sentence, the guy didn’t get any sentence, so which is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the “results of our actions” matter, the woman didn’t get any sentence, the guy didn’t get any sentence, so which is it?

The woman had a diplomatic immunity. The man is a drunktard

The woman came back, her name is dirt and she’s unemployable

The drunk driver thought he got away with it. I think he deserves at least the same

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is a mainly NZ take on this guy’s actions. They are less forgiving than DCUM.

https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/196yfqu/us_tourist_brett_reck_hit_car_on_highway_near/

Not really. Most of the comments are about how they struggled when they tried to drive on the right in the US and Europe.

Right, but also a lot of confusion about how he possibly could have driven on the wrong side for a full 10 minutes, unless he was drunk.

As well they should be. Ten minutes? That's really quite a few minutes.

[Anonymous]

The driver behind honked and flashed lights for 10 minutes. They saw Brett stop only after the crash. They saw him chuck beer cans out of the window.

[Anonymous]

results are back and they show Brett Douglas Reck had been drinking before the crash…

Reck, a 42-year-old finance company manager from Washington DC, had been in New Zealand on a three-week holiday with his wife and young child. Just before 10pm on January 12 he crashed into another vehicle while driving on the Shenandoah Highway, State Highway 65, near Murchison, and ended up in hospital.

He’d been driving his rented Toyota on the wrong side of the road for at least 10 minutes, despite warnings from other drivers to correct his driving.

The police had sought bail that would have prevented him from leaving the country, to allow them to investigate whether his driving had been affected by alcohol and the possibility a drink-drive charge might follow.
…
Police said Reck appeared at the scene to be intoxicated. His lawyer John Sandston said Reck had told him he had been drinking alcohol beforehand, which meant he may well lose his insurance cover.

He added that Reck faced losing his job if he was delayed longer and he and his wife’s young child was high-needs and required both parents for around-the-clock care.
…

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/american-tourist-who-caused-crash-near-murchison-found-to-be-over-the-drink-drive-limit-after-leaving-the-country/MDAUE6AZCJBXNL73IEUXS5EPDQ/

[Anonymous]

Why do all these douches say they’re from
DC?

[Anonymous]

I saw this thread was cited in the thread about Americans driving abroad and it made me wonder if there is any update? What’s new with Brett Reck? Did he have to go back to NZ to face Justice or is he still cruising 495?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw this thread was cited in the thread about Americans driving abroad and it made me wonder if there is any update? What’s new with Brett Reck? Did he have to go back to NZ to face Justice or is he still cruising 495?

^^To answer my own question in part, I Googled Brett and found this bizarro interview which reads like he put it out as a PR with the help of AI. Very strange. Maybe he’s trying to rehab his image? It doesn’t mention his NZ escapade.

https://bmmagazine.co.uk/business/brett-reck-virginias-innovative-financial-expert/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw this thread was cited in the thread about Americans driving abroad and it made me wonder if there is any update? What’s new with Brett Reck? Did he have to go back to NZ to face Justice or is he still cruising 495?

I won’t post his personal info but once you Google his full name it’s obvious.

Looks like he’s paid for some SEO PR, tons of crap media mentions regurgitating the same bio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw this thread was cited in the thread about Americans driving abroad and it made me wonder if there is any update? What’s new with Brett Reck? Did he have to go back to NZ to face Justice or is he still cruising 495?

I won’t post his personal info but once you Google his full name it’s obvious.

Looks like he’s paid for some SEO PR, tons of crap media mentions regurgitating the same bio.

Yes, my first thought after googling was he’d hired a “reputation defense” firm. It’s pretty impressive, honestly. currently his search results are obviously fake but they’re not “bad.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I saw this thread was cited in the thread about Americans driving abroad and it made me wonder if there is any update? What’s new with Brett Reck? Did he have to go back to NZ to face Justice or is he still cruising 495?

^^To answer my own question in part, I Googled Brett and found this bizarro interview which reads like he put it out as a PR with the help of AI. Very strange. Maybe he’s trying to rehab his image? It doesn’t mention his NZ escapade.

https://bmmagazine.co.uk/business/brett-reck-virginias-innovative-financial-expert/

This is so infuriating. Guy is a sleezebag and now gets to erase records of his "affluenza". Articles about him as an "innovative financial expert" appear to have been released 4 days ago, and 4 hrs ago. Not sure if they're on a timer or something but he definitely hired a firm to bury to NZ case.