Redland mayor Karen Williams faces $12k bill for anti-alcohol device in her car for five years

Cleveland Magistrate Deborah Vasta said Redland mayor Karen Williams would pay the price for drink driving and with an interlock device on her car for five years, the mayor could be up for more than $12,000.

A “single lapse of judgment in 18 years of public service” has cost Redland mayor Karen Williams more than her reputation.

She will have to shell out more than $12,000 for an interlock device which will be attached to her car for five years after her six-month licence suspension.

The 55-year-old grandmother will be over 60 when she has the interlocking device to stop drink driving taken off her car.

It was part of the penalty she had to pay after pleading guilty this week to driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.177 per cent.

She also has to do 80 hours of community service and report to the Redlands Probation and Parole Office at Capalaba.

Cleveland Magistrate Deborah Vasta told the court Ms Williams had made a mistake but would pay the price.

“We all do make mistakes and you’ve certainly, it seems to me, you have paid — and will continue to pay — very heavily for your mistake that night,” Ms Vasta told Ms Williams.

Drivers must register no alcohol on their breath to get the car interlock device to start a car's ignition.

On top of paying $82.10 to replace her licence, Ms Williams will have to pay an additional $359 for a probationary licence with code “I” to signify the interlock condition.

She is likely to also be charged $10.60 for a short online drink-driving course.

The interlock device must be installed in her car before she drives.

Redland City Council did not answer questions about whether it will allow Ms Williams to fit a device on a council-owned vehicle.

Under the regulations, she would have to get permission from the council to install the interlock on a council car.

There are three recommended interlock device installers in southeast Queensland with prices to get the device installed starting from $315.

However, if the car was made after 2016 and has a press button start, like Ms Williams’ crashed luxury hybrid Lexus station wagon, fitting is more likely to cost about $580.

Once fitted, it will also cost her about $190 a month to lease the device, which will equate to $11,400 over the five years it is affixed to her car.

She will also have to pay $120 to have the device removed after the five years is up.

Ms Williams will be part of a Performance-based Alcohol Ignition Interlock Program, where the device use and its data is monitored by Queensland Transport.

All readings from the device have to show no trace of alcohol and all scheduled interlock services have to be met.

If there is a breach in the rules, or if alcohol is detected during a four-month performance period, the interlock program will be extended.

To start her car, Ms Williams will have to blow into the device, which is connected to her car’s ignition system.

Redlands Mayor Karen Williams addresses the media after pleading guilty to a high-range drink driving charge, following a traffic crash in Cleveland on June 23. Picture: Matthew Poon

The vehicle will only start if no alcohol is detected.

But the inconvenience does not stop there. As alcohol takes time to be absorbed into a person’s bloodstream, the interlock also requires additional breath tests at random intervals during the journey.

Her car is likely to start beeping after seven minutes, when she will have 10 minutes to pull over and blow into the device to prove she has no alcohol on her breath.

Depending on how long the journey is, she may have to blow into the device at seven-minute intervals.

If alcohol is detected, the car will be immobilised.

She will also have to have a camera installed which will take a photo each time a breath sample is taken.