More than $23,000 is the final price tag on a trip to the ice cream store that ended up in disaster.
Community Services Minister Judy Streatch and her 17-year-old son Jordan will pay out the remainder of the government lease on her Ford Escape hybrid that was totalled May 3 while her son was behind the wheel.
Murray Scott, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal said yesterday the government was able to sell the vehicle for scrap metal, the highest bid coming in at $10,600.
The total lease is worth more than $34,000.
“Jordan and I will visit the local credit union and we will be reimbursing the government for the expenses,” Streatch said yesterday.
The crash happened when Jordan took the SUV to the corner store for ice cream with his girlfriend and ended up in a ditch.
Streatch was criticized for allowing her teenaged son to drive the government-leased vehicle, which Premier Rodney MacDonald said should only be used for government business.
The minister apologized for allowing her son to drive the car admitting it was a poor decision on her part.
“I stated from the beginning that my family and I take full responsibility for this and that hasn’t changed,” she said yesterday.
A few days after the crash, Premier Rodney MacDonald announced cabinet ministers would no longer have the option of driving government-leased vehicles.
Their only choices now are to collect mileage or a $700, taxable monthly allowance.
