BC Highway Patrol (BCHP) officers handed out over 800 tickets and carried out 83 drug-impaired driving investigations over the Shambhala music festival weekend.
The music festival is held from July 21-25 at the Salmo River Ranch in the West Kootenays.
As festivalgoers began arriving, BCHP officers set up traffic stops on all the major highway mountain passes that lead into Salmo, including the Kooteny Pass, Bombi Pass and Paulson Pass.
.png)
The influx of people arriving for the festival resulted in 360 speeding tickets and nine excessive speeding tickets being issued.
Eleven tickets were issued for vehicles with no insurance and another 11 notice and orders were issued for unsafe or mechanically unsound vehicles.
“The temperatures were high and a little uncomfortable for officers working long days in full uniform,” said Corporal McLaughlin in a news release. “But it’s clear this enforcement was necessary.”
When the festival wrapped up, BCHP officers teamed up with the Nelson Police to monitor traffic and investigate any suspected impaired drivers.
That enforcement led to dozens of vehicles being taken off the road.
About 60 vehicles were towed for being mechanically unsafe or for driver impairment.
A total of 59 24-hour suspensions for drug impairment were issued and 24 Criminal Code investigations for drug impairment were started.
