HOPE — Peace officers with the BC Highway Patrol had a watchful eye on commercial big rig drivers during a training exercise at the end of June in Hope.
From an enforcement and safety perspective, their efforts paid dividends in a big way.
According to a statement from provincial police, BC Highway Patrol conducted a commercial vehicle enforcement training day in Hope on Friday, June 28. Seven commercial big rigs were placed out of service, and police served a whopping 20 violation tickets for infractions like false logs, omitting entries, no log entries and insecure cargo.
Their work isn’t just limited to commercial drivers, of course. In the past week, BC Highway Patrol conducted impaired driving of over 600 vehicle drivers in the south Okanagan from July 4-6, resulting in 10 immediate roadside prohibitions. They also arrested a man in June on Vancouver Island for impaired driving, an incident that eventually led to the confiscation of 46 cases of unstamped and untaxed cigarettes with each case containing 50 cartons of cigarettes. The driver was arrested for trafficking-related offences. The cigarettes had a retail value of $400,000.
Image: BC Highway Patrol / BC Highway Patrol arrested the driver of this pickup truck for impaired driving, and later discovered over $400,000 of contraband tobacco in a cargo trailer.