Police say they busted 83 people for drug-impaired driving and handed out more than 800 tickets during road checks targeting drivers coming and going from a popular electronic music festival in the Kootenays.
The BC Highway Patrol set up checkpoints in the mountain passes surrounding Salmo throughout the Shambhala festival, between July 21 and July 25.
As festival-goers arrived, police handed out more than 700 tickets, including 360 for speeding, nine for excessive speeding, 11 for driving without insurance and 11 for unsafe or mechanically unsound vehicles.
Then, as revellers left the festival, police stopped scores of unsafe drivers.
That enforcement resulted in 60 vehicles being towed due to driver impairment or mechanical safety issues, 59 immediate roadside prohibitions handed out for drug impairment and 24 criminal code investigations for drug impairment.
Highway patrol spokesperson Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said the operation showed that officers were “right to be concerned” about the potential for impaired driving and unsafe vehicles associated with the event.