BC Highway Patrol issued more than 800 tickets and towed dozens of cars as part of its road safety enforcement related to the Shambhala Music Festival. Eighty-three people also face drug-impaired driving offences and 71 orders were issued to fix vehicle defects.
The annual electronic music festival, held near Salmo, took place from July 21 to 25.
Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said that as festivalgoers arrived, police focused on speed and vehicle infractions in all of the mountain passes into the area, including the Kootenay Pass, Bombi Pass, and Blueberry-Paulson.
That resulted in more than 700 tickets, including 360 for speeding, nine for excessive speeding, 11 for having no insurance, and 11 orders for unsafe or mechanically unsound vehicles.
As people left the festival, the highway patrol worked with Nelson Police to look for impaired drivers and unsafe vehicles. That resulted in about 60 vehicles being towed, 59 day-long suspensions being issued for drug impairment, and 24 Criminal Code investigations for drug impairments.
“The temperatures were high and a little uncomfortable for officers working long days in full uniform,” McLaughlin said in the release. “But it’s clear this enforcement was necessary. Police officers were particularly concerned about getting impaired drivers and unsafe vehicles off the road, and they were right to be concerned.”
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