With the Williams Lake Stampede fast approaching, the annual Tsilhqot'in Cross Country Wagon and Horse Rides is getting underway.
Beginning on Tuesday, June 17, 200 to 500 people are expected to be travelling along several routes to the Williams Lake Stampede Grounds from all of the Tsilhqot'in communities. Travelling by horse, wagon and bikes, they plan to arrive just in time for the Williams Lake Stampede on June 27.
The journey will take travellers along Highway 20, where on June 27 several sections of the road will be controlled between Williams Lake and Meldrum Creek Rd. Traffic delays are expected.
To enhance public safety, police officers from the Alexis Creek RCMP's Indigenous Policing Section, BC Highway Patrol and Williams Lake's Municipal Traffic Section will be conducting traffic enforcement patrols on the highway.
In a June 17 media release, Alexis Creek RCMP note the BC Motor Vehicle Act has been amended to include new charges for offences against vulnerable road users, defined in the Act as pedestrians, persons on bicycles, motorcycles, animals, animal-driven vehicles or on a designated personal mobility device such as an electric kick scooter, electric wheelchair or a mobility scooter.
Charges include failing to take proper precautions with vulnerable road users, failing to safely pass persons or failing to maintain prescribed minimum passing distances. Penalties range from $109 to $2,000 fines and six months of imprisonment.
Learn more about safely sharing the road on B.C.'s Sharing the road safely web page.
