Redland City Mayor Karen Williams issued notice to appear for drink driving

Redland City Mayor Karen Williams has been issued a notice to appear for drink driving after she recorded a blood alcohol reading of .177 - more than three times the legal limit.

Redland City Mayor Karen Williams has been issued a notice to appear for drink driving after she recorded a blood alcohol reading of .177 - more than three times the legal limit.

Ms Williams lost control of her vehicle at the intersection of Queen and Wellington Streets, Cleveland on June 23, where she mounted a footpath and crashed through a fence into a tree following a budget ‘after party’.

The crash happened shortly after she held a Zoom meeting with the families of victims of drink drivers.

Redlands Mayor Karen Williams speaking to media Picture. 9 News Queensland.

Ms Williams held the Zoom meeting with the family of Matty Field, who died along with his pregnant partner Kate Leadbetter, after they were hit by a stolen car driven by a drunk and high teen in Alexandra Hills a year ago.

She also stood alongside Matty Field’s parents Ann and Russell two weeks ago to launch a petition calling for the youth to receive a harsher jail term.

Damaged fence and broken trees at the site where Karen Williams crashed her car. Picture: Liam Kidston.

Also at the Zoom meeting was road safety advocate Judy Lindsay, whose daughter Hayley Russell, 20, lost her life to a drunk driver in 2009.

It’s understood another family was also represented.

Ms Lindsay told The Courier-Mail that Ms Williams’ camera had turned off for periods of time during the online meeting, which ran from about 6pm to 7pm following the delivery of the Redland City Council budget that afternoon.

Ms Lindsay said she was astounded and enraged that the mayor had allegedly got behind the wheel while drunk.

The mayor’s charge has prompted a wave of fury with road safety advocates and locals demanding she resign immediately, saying she has ‘betrayed our trust’.