By Adam Eisenbarth
Rimbey RCMP anticipated another busy May long weekend and got what they expected.
“It could have been a lot busier because weather certainly played a factor in everyone’s plans for the weekend. We had rain and snowfall in the Medicine Lake area Friday and Saturday so that kind of hampered campers plans,” said Sgt. Mark Groves.
The RCMP increased patrols in the Medicine Lake and Gull Lake area and joined in a task force to reduce weekend rowdiness.
“That involved Drayton Valley, Rocky Mountain House and Sundre detachments with partners involved being the county police officers from Clearwater and Brazeau counties. It also involved the sheriffs, Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers, forest officers, park officers, motor transport officers and other agencies. Combined, the task force laid over 1,000 charges ranging from speeding to failing to insure an off highway vehicle.”
In the Rimbey area, two adult males were charged with impaired driving, three adults were issued 24-hour driving suspensions and there were two rollover collisions.
“The persons involved (in the rollovers) were believed to be wearing seat belts and there were no serious injuries sustained in either case. Alcohol may have been a factor in one of those collisions and the driver was charged.”
Overall, Groves thought the weekend went well.
“Generally speaking, everyone was well behaved this weekend. The vast majority of ATVs checked were registered and insured properly.”
The task force appeared to have a positive impact on the safety of the weekend.
“The May long weekend has traditionally been a very busy time for police. As a result, this task force has certainly brought order to some of the shenanigans that were going on prior to the task force being in place,” says Groves.
“There were complaints previously of families not being able to go and enjoy a camping weekend because of some of the things that were going on and this last weekend seemed much more tame as opposed to other weekends.”
The RCMP recovered two stolen ATVs on the weekend and are investigating further into those situations.
Groves believes that the poor weather conditions, combined with a better understanding of safety from the public contributed to the better results.
“Generally speaking, most campsites were good at cleaning up after themselves and keeping the area tidy. There were no serious injuries reported to the Rimbey RCMP as a result of any ATV collisions or anything in Rimbey.”
A number of provincial parks banned alcohol use to create a better family environment.
“Whether people went because they couldn’t drink and flooded into our area…We certainly were busy. The Medicine Lake area looked like a town out there.”
Groves hopes the generally safe weekend is a sign of a safe, enjoyable summer to come.