Kaea Anderson (17) and her friend Amanda Prouting (18), of Invercargill, were in a two-car collision on Earnscleugh Rd, near Alexandra, on February 2 this year when on a bend a car came towards them on their side of the road.
The two cars collided head-on when they both then went to the other side of the road.
Miss Anderson, who was driving, received injuries including hip sprains, facial grazes, concussion and muscle strain and was treated on the day at Dunstan Hospital.
Miss Prouting was admitted to Dunedin Hospital for several weeks, with serious injuries including a dislocated hip, broken femur, broken nose and fractured wrist.
Miss Anderson said the Austrian driver of the other vehicle, who was disqualified from driving for 12 months when he later appeared in court, had shown great remorse for the crash and she wanted her message about the issue to be a "positive and motivating one".
"The emphasis is on making New Zealand roads safer, not deterring tourists from coming to New Zealand."
She has launched the petition to ask for more funding and awareness to prevent crashes caused by foreign drivers on the wrong side of the road.
"I wanted to do something positive about the accident that I have personally experienced as a survivor ... I have decided to make a petition to raise awareness and bring to the spotlight the increasing trend of fatal and near-death crashes involving tourists on our roads.
"I think we need to educate foreigner drivers to be safer on our roads and I hope by launching my online petition it will ignite greater debate on whether foreigner drivers should be better educated before they are allowed to drive on our roads."
Miss Anderson said she wanted more signs on roads advising drivers to keep left, and more arrows directing traffic to drive on the correct side of the road. She also wanted to see foreign drivers made to have "at least third party insurance".
The leader of the Student Against Dangerous Driving committee at Dunstan High School while in year 13 there last year, said she was hoping to help bring about change to current laws or testing requirements.
"The question that I ask is how many more people have to die before we do something about having more adequate signage on our roads and educate foreigner drivers to keep safer on our roads?"
She was still recovering from her injuries, experiencing muscle strain, short-term headaches, pain and general fatigue.
This year she is taking a gap year, as already planned before the car crash, flying to Australia on March 30 and then planning to go to the United States and the Philippines.
Before the crash, Miss Prouting was due to begin her second year of psychology studies at the University of Otago this year, but has had to delay studies by a semester as she is also still recovering from her serious injuries.
She is planning to resume her studies in the second semester of the university year.
• For her petition, go to https://tinyurl.com/nzdriverpetition
