Secret documents reveal photos and bill for Redland mayor’s crashed Lexus
Secret documents have revealed the shocking photos from Redland mayor Karen Williams’ drunken road crash, which was paid for in a $50,000 insurance claim.
Redlands Coast
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These are the shocking photos of Redland City mayor Karen Williams’ luxury SUV after her drunken road crash which ended with the council Lexus being written off and the council insurer reimbursing ratepayers $53,686.36.
Ms Williams crashed her council-owned Lexus SUV after handing down the 2022-23 Budget on June 23 last year, careening over a kerb, crashing into a fence and slamming into a tree.
The crash was minutes after the mayor held an online meeting with families of drink-driving victims and youths.
She pleaded guilty to high-range drink driving after being found to have had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.177 per cent.
Redland council’s insurance company Zurich fully reimbursed the council for the cost of the luxury 2020 Lexus car, which had 29,569km on the clock, after offering to replace it with another valued at $62,003.
Council quotes and estimates claimed it would cost $59,361 to repair the car which had a writedown value of $46,000 with repairs including $47,420 worth of new parts.
A quote from Lexus for a new car came in at $65,934.35.
In documents obtained under Right to Information, Redland council lawyer Andrew Ross told operational services manager Gerry Stone that there was “no fleet demand” for a Lexus and the council was unlikely to capitalise on reselling a new Lexus.
“Council is not directly involved with the insurer after they took possession of the car last year noting their standard policy approach is to recover any loss directly from the driver at fault,” Mr Ross said in an email to a ratepayer.
“Council has been fully refunded for loss associated with the incident including the insured vehicle value, insurance excess and road rail repairs.”
Mr Stone said a payout option was better as “the mayor will not be requiring a council vehicle in the future”.
Zurich accepted the claim and said it would pursue Ms Williams for costs after her court appearance on August 1, when she pleaded guilty.
The mayor has paid $583 to repair the fence she crashed through on Wellington St along with $2000 for the council vehicle excess, all paid directly into the council’s bank account.
Zurich was contacted for confirmation that the mayor had also repaid the insurance for the car.
In March, Zurich said “Due to customer privacy and confidentiality, we can’t comment on individual cases”.
Ms Williams was unavailable for interview but in a statement said: “I won’t let anyone’s dogged obsession with a single mistake made over a year ago deter me from making Redlands Coast a better place for future generations.”
She had previously said the insurer had been reimbursed for all expenses related to the claim.
A spokesman for the council said all costs associated with the accident were personally covered, at no expense to ratepayers and that council’s procurement processes were followed at all times.
Emails to Mr Ross also showed that the crashed car was towed to the council’s South St depot on June 24 a day after the crash but later towed away by the insurer on August 16.
Ratepayers, whose names have been redacted, questioned how the mayor was provided with a luxury Lexus under the council’s fleet policy.
The mayor was the only councillor out of 11 in the city to have the prestigious Lexus, which can cost upwards of $65,000 depending on the year.
It is believed the council dealt directly with a car dealership and did not go through the regular process of buying the Lexus through state government’s QFleet, as it has done for other council vehicles.
Redland council’s budget showed its annual insurance payments to undisclosed insurers was $1.395 million in 2022.
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