RCMP reports no road fatalities on Victoria Day weekend for the first time in 6 years

A Tesla driver was among those ticketed by BC Highway Patrol over the past month, one of over 9,600 speeding tickets issued in May.

This year’s Victoria Day long weekend was the safest B.C. roads have seen in years.

According to a statement issued by the BC Highway Patrol, the May long weekend was the first time in six years where no vehicle-related fatalities were reported. It comes after three were reported in 2024, and an average of four fatalities annually between 2019 and 2023.

“We had a lot of positive public feedback about the impact of BC Highway Patrol’s high-visibility enforcement, and we’re very happy to do our part to reduce deaths on our roads,” said Supt. Mike Coyle in the statement.

“We still find too many examples of irresponsible driving.”

While no deaths marred the spring weekend this year, that’s not to say all drivers on the road were travelling safely.

Over the course of the three days, traffic officers wrote almost 2,000 speeding tickets across the province, and 79 vehicles were impounded due to excessive speeding, the RCMP said.

Throughout the whole of May, during month-long high-risk driving and motorcycle awareness campaigns, the BC Highway Patrol dished out over 9,600 speeding tickets.

Over 1,500 of those nabbed were travelling on Vancouver Island, while over 2,200 were ticketed in B.C.’s central and Okanagan regions.

Among those left to pay the price of their dangerous driving was one motorcyclist on a learner licence in Burnaby, who was clocked May 19 travelling 152 km/h in a 90 km/h zone, and a Tesla driver whose speed of 191 km/h in a 100 km/h zone on Highway 1 landed him his third excessive speeding ticket in two years.

On May 18, two drivers were caught in the Kootenay region after a husband who was collecting his inebriated wife after she had been stopped and suspended also failed the breathalyzer.

With the BC Highway Patrol’s Summer Impaired Driving Campaign nearing, Coyle said he urges those getting behind the wheel to refocus, and take safe driving more seriously.

“The heat of summer will bring a lot more traffic on B.C. Highways.” he warned.