Peter Scott’s vehicle caught speeding almost 1000 times in 12 months

Tuesday, 29 October 2024

In 2023, Environment Canterbury’s vehicles recorded just under 7000 speeding events.

A car used by the former chairman of Environment Canterbury (ECan) was found speeding nearly 1000 times over a 12-month period, new information shows.

The regional council has released more data relating to Peter Scott and his now infamous driving habits.

Scott resigned as chairman amid criticism of his driving, with 678 instances of speeding — meaning more than 5kph over the speed limit — recorded by his council-issued vehicle in 2024.

Then ECan chair Peter Scott tells a Press reporter on September 19 he was made aware of excessive speeding in his council car the previous day.

He regularly commuted between Christchurch and his home near Timaru. On a handful of occasions, the car broke the speed limit by more than 50kph, reaching the threshold for having the drivers’ licence suspended.

The Press requested data for the vehicle prior to 2024, which ECan released last week.

Scott received permission to use the car — a Toyota Highlander — in late August 2023. In the remainder of that year the car was recorded speeding 309 times, reaching a maximum speed of 151kph.

Combined with the 2024 figures, Scott’s vehicle was recorded speeding nearly 1000 times in 12 months. Almost half those events were deemed “excessive”, meaning more than 15kph over the speed limit.

While the revelation led to Scott’s resignation as chairman, questions remain about why speeding in his car took so long to draw attention. ECan’s vehicle policy says speeding records are automatically generated on a monthly basis and reviewed by a manager.

Former Environment Canterbury chairman Peter Scott’s vehicle was recorded speeding nearly 1000 times in a year.

The council has said it is reviewing its systems, and has suggested one possible reason for the oversight: Scott, as chairman, did not technically have a manager.

Alongside the records from Scott’s vehicle, ECan released speeding data for the wider organisation.

The data, spanning March 2022 to October 2024, shows all speeding events generated by the council’s approximately 166 vehicles.

It shows a gradual increase over time, which can partly be explained by Scott receiving a vehicle.

In 2023, the council’s vehicles recorded just under 7000 speeding events, 877 of which were deemed excessive.

Scott had a vehicle for four months in that year, and it was responsible for 15% of the excessive speeding events.

In the year to October of 2024, ECan staff had about 6200 speeding events, 1032 of them excessive. About 32% of the excessive speed events could be attributed to Scott’s vehicle.

Both Scott and ECan have said they will not provide further comment on the issue.