Sometimes the gentle approach does not work.
In our July 11 edition, we published a story where Barrhead RCMP Sgt. Bob Dodds told us that the RCMP, along with the county’s peace officers are going to start fineing people who choose to access the popular tubing spot on the Pembina River by driving and parking in the ditch just after the bridge on Highway 33, about 10 minutes south of Barrhead.
Before they started doing this, Dodds said they hoped to curb the practice through an informational campaign, most done by officers issuing warning tickets.
However, if taking the number of vehicles the Leader saw parked beside the bridge last weekend, it appears the RCMP and area peace officers will have to graduate to actually issuing $155 fines.
It is something he would rather not do. While it is true driving in a ditch is an infraction according to the Traffic Safety Act, the real purpose in the police wanting to stop the practice is public safety.
The bridge is located near a curve with limited visibility and when people slow down to pull into the area or even worse when they pull out to turn left or right back onto the highway there is a potential for collision — and a serious one at that.
We agree with the RCMP that this practice poses a significant risk to the motoring public and the activity should be curbed. If this means imposing fines then so be it. Last year one of our reporters commented how nervous he felt when pulling back on to they highway after he parked in the same area to do a story about people trespassing on private property and damaging farm crops after returning from a day of tubing on the river.
We also find it disappointing that this continues to be an issue.
Law enforcement officials have better things to do with their time than policing something that people know is illegal, but decide to go ahead with and then often complain when they receive a ticket.
Yes, the infraction might seem innocuous, but the consequences can be devastating.
While vacationing in B.C. last week one of our staff members was called upon to help out at an evacuation centre in Kelowna after a person who is believed to have ignored the province wide campfire ban on a secluded area along Okanagan Lake resulting in a wildfire that ended up destroying eight homes. [The RCMP now believe the fire might have been deliberately set.]
While we understand the allure of taking a dip in the Pembina River on a hot summer day, there are other legal and safer alternatives, such as taking a drive to an area lake or taking a dip in our newly constructed pool.
We encourage our readers to take advantage of them instead of putting others at risk and going the Pembina River Bridge.
