There were five light vehicle crashes recorded between July 1 and September 30, according to a council report. It’s 2.4 less than the average for previous financial years.

Two of the drivers were at fault, which was 2.53 less than the average for the same year to date period.

There were also two claims made against council’s insurer for the quarter. It’s 0.06 less than the average.

In total, the five accidents caused $10,796 worth of damage. However, council only pays the excess above $1,000 when an insurance claim is lodged, so council was out of pocket $3,040 for the three months.

Fleet Management Services has established an indicator system that highlights drivers who have been involved in more than three ‘avoidable’ crashes during a two year period.

Accidents for the quarter were down, but so too was the plant utilisation rate.

According to the report, the plant utilisation rate was 80.61 per cent, not quite reaching the adopted policy target of 85 per cent.

Meanwhile, the specialised plant utilisation rate was 52.86 per cent, also just shy of the 55 per cent target.

Council manager fleet management services Steven Colliver said with the extremely wet weather the utilisation rate was satisfactory.

The Fleet Management Services Hawthorn Street Workshop has set a 90 per cent clearance of defects within a 14 day period. For the first three months of the financial year the clearance rate was 95 per cent.

Mr Colliver said the staff know the importance of customer service and were working hard to sustain the efficient turn over rate.