Crash costs Shadbolt $600

Tim Shadbolt rolled the Invercargill mayoral car. File picture / Getty Images

Crashing the mayoral car has cost colourful Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt $600.

Shadbolt, 59, faced a charge of careless driving after he crashed the car near Winton, in Southland, on the night of March 31.

Shadbolt had two passengers with him when he bent down to retrieve his sunglasses case from under his brake pedal and lost control of the car, which rolled and came to rest on its roof in a water table.

Neither of his passengers was injured, but Shadbolt was admitted to Kew Hospital in Invercargill with three broken vertebrae, a bruised lung and damaged kidneys.

He was hospitalised for two weeks.

A police investigation showed Shadbolt had no alcohol in his blood.

In Invercargill District Court today, Justices of the Peace Fraser Clark and Iris Robinson ordered Shadbolt, who pleaded guilty to the charge, to pay $300 each to St John Ambulance and the Winton Fire Brigade, whose volunteers were called out to assist at the crash scene.

They did not enter a conviction provided Shadbolt make the payments by July 27, when he would be discharged.

Shadbolt, who could have faced a maximum fine of $3000 on the charge, was not required to appear in court today but was represented by his lawyer, Phil McDonald.

Mr McDonald told the court Shadbolt had checked for oncoming traffic and slowed to 70km/h before bending down to pick up the sunglasses case.

Shadbolt's foot slipped off the brake pedal and onto the accelerator, the car fish-tailed and he was unable to regain control.

It was Shadbolt's first road accident in almost 45 years of driving and he had no previous convictions, Mr McDonald said.

Alcohol was not involved and Shadbolt was very sorry for his loss of control.

Shadbolt was also "extremely relieved" that his passengers were uninjured.

The JPs opted not to disqualify Shadbolt from driving because of his previous good record.

- NZPA