Despite having fewer enforcement resources this year, B.C. Highway Patrol still removed over 50 suspected impaired drivers from the road during this year’s Shambhala Music Festival.
Police released the festival enforcement results Tuesday. The festival ran July 24 to 27 at the Salmo River Ranch and saw upwards of 50,000 attendees.
Officers issued 51 immediate 24-hour driving suspensions for drug impairment during B.C. Highway Patrol’s post-festival check-stop operation. Drug Recognition Expert evaluations also led to 27 impaired-by-drug investigations.
A total of 57 vehicles were towed because of driver impairment or mechanical safety concerns.
Sgt. Michael McLaughlin with B.C. Highway Patrol said the results show officers were kept busy despite having fewer resources than last year.
“This was a massive crowd. It was a very popular festival this year, and our officers were very, very busy,” he said.
“Even though it was a smaller team, they did do a lot of enforcement. They saw too much that was going wrong, especially with the no insurance and the drug-impaired driving.”
Before the festival, B.C. Highway Patrol conducted its annual influx week enforcement campaign targeting speeding, distracted driving and other traffic offences.
During that campaign, officers made 601 traffic stops and issued 311 speeding tickets, 11 tickets for driving without insurance, 10 seatbelt violations, two tickets for using an electronic device while driving and one ticket for driving without due care and attention.
McLaughlin said the number of uninsured drivers and drug-impaired driving investigations stood out the most.
“There are two things that really stand out. One is the number of no insurance tickets. That’s a really high number of people who haven’t bothered to get insurance or perhaps proper registration for their vehicles,” he said.
“The other issue, and this is a recurring issue at Shambhala, is the number of impaired-by-drug investigations. That’s way too high.”
Police also issued 50 Motor Vehicle Act violation tickets during the post-festival operation.
The enforcement campaign included motorcycle officers from B.C. Highway Patrol and was carried out alongside Nelson Police and Drug Recognition Experts from across British Columbia.
McLaughlin urges future festivalgoers to plan ahead before getting behind the wheel.
“It shouldn’t be that hard to drive responsibly when you’re having fun at these festivals, but you need to do a minimal amount of advanced planning,” he said.
“There is really no excuse for impaired driving. You know you’re going to be in this place. You simply need to be responsible and not get behind the wheel when you’re impaired by alcohol or drugs.”
He added that the recurring number of drug-impaired driving investigations points to a broader issue at the festival.
“There may be a cultural issue that we see every year with Shambhala because we see too many people who are choosing to drive while impaired by drugs,” he said.
“This is something that you can avoid with some planning. It speaks to perhaps the amount of people who think that the rules don’t apply to them or somehow that this is okay. Impaired driving causes absolutely brutal consequences, and we need people to be a little bit smarter and more considerate behind the wheel.”
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