By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Too many drivers are exercising “poor judgement” behind the wheel following a spike in Victoria Day long weekend fatalities marking a “dark return” to previous years statistics according to the BC Highway Patrol (BCHP).
The holiday weekend also saw an increase in excessive speeding tickets (with impound) compared to last year’s period.
Five people died on BC roads during this years Victoria Day long weekend, which was a “dark return to form after 2025 had zero deaths,” the BCHP said in a statement. In 2024 there were three deaths over the long weekend and four in 2023.
Three motorcycles on a tow truck after they were impounded for excessive speed on Highway #97.
BC Highway Patrol photo
“The sad increase in long weekend deaths shows how we can’t be complacent after a good year like 2025,” says Inspector Chad Badry with BC Highway Patrol.
In 2025, BC Highway Patrol officers wrote over 9,600 total speeding tickets and 403 excessive speeding tickets during the 2025 May campaign month, with this year officers writing even more.
“BC Highway Patrol officers wrote significantly more excessive speeding tickets in May 2026. Those tickets indicate a dangerous lack of judgment from many drivers,” Badry said.
A total of 568 excessive speeding tickets (with impound) and 7,898 total speeding tickets were issued in May, including 93 excessive and 1,881 total in Central BC. “A lower overall number of tickets is good, but it’s not an indication that we are actually driving more safely,” Badry noted, pointing to the excessive speeding number.
Some highlights from BC Highway Patrol’s May enforcement include:
- On May 24, 2026, in a single stop on Highway #97 east of Falkland, a BC Highway Patrol officer impounded three motorcycles whose riders were travelling together at excessive speed;
- During the May Days Festival in Fruitvale (May 23-24), BC Highway Patrol set up check stops that removed five impaired drivers, arrested a high-risk domestic violence suspect for breaching a Conditional Sentence Order, and stopped two motorcyclists who had no licences or insurance and were speeding.
The BCHP reminded motorcyclists that extra caution is required for the extra fun of two wheels. Motorcyclists are three times more likely to be injured or killed in a crash compared to people in a passenger vehicle, and 1 in 3 motorcycle crashes do not involve another vehicle, according to RoadSafetyBC data.
BC Highway Patrol will continue its ‘education through enforcement’ efforts all summer and are reminding drivers that driving safely is the best way to avoid both “tickets and tragedy”.
