Rally champion sought to cut council car crashes

Dunedin City Council has come up with a novel idea to cut the number of accidents involving council vehicles.

It was hoping to recruit New Zealand rally champion Emma Gilmour to instruct staff in defensive driving skills, The Otago Daily Times reported today.

Figures showed 72 council vehicles were involved in accidents in the past three years, with the bill for repairs and replacement vehicles totalling $58,389.

In the 2009-10 year to date, the council reported 33 accidents, with 12 in 2008-09 and 27 in 2007-08.

Three vehicles were so badly damaged they were written off.

Talks were now underway to secure Ms Gilmour's services, council citifleet team leader Brent Bachop said.

The Dunedin-born rally ace - now based in Hamilton - ran the AA's driver safety programme, Mr Bachop said.

A driver training programme for council staff had been run each year, but it would be the first time someone of Ms Gilmour's skills would be involved, he said.

"The crash rate reflected the overall size of the council and its vehicle fleet, as well as the places they went, the severity of any particular winter and - sometimes - the behaviour of other drivers."

The council's total fleet size stood at 153 vehicles valued at about $3 million.

- NZPA