Penticton RCMP safety blitz targets motorcycles, commercial and seasonal vehicles

PENTICTON – Drivers on Highway 97 south of Penticton noticed a large police presence at the weigh scales near the junction of Highway 3A today.

The scales was the location of a RCMP campaign, June 19, targeting commercial vehicles, motorcycles and anything hauling a trailer.

“This is the time of year when things have been sitting all year and now that people are getting their trailers out, lots of times the lights don’t work, or the breakaway devices don’t work or the brakes don’t work,” Sgt. Harold Hallett with South Okanagan Traffic Services says.

Members of the province's Commercial Vehicle Inspection Unit were also on hand to conduct mechanical inspections of vehicles.

The campaign will be moving around the South Okanagan throughout the weekend as the officers switch focus to impaired drivers.

The Road Safety Unit, a large motorhome equipped with a breathalyzer, temporary holding cells, office equipment and even a dispatcher who can run drivers licenses is acting as a mobile headquarters.

Hallett says the large number of serious motorcycle crashes in the South Okanagan is part of the reason for the police crackdown.

“We’re now sitting at seven serious crashes involving motorcycles, with one death,” he says, adding when motorcyclists are pulled over they are given a safety chat while their bike is being inspected.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.