Get off the Connector if you don’t have winter tires
About 10% of vehicles being driven on a mountain highway had inadequate winter tires, West Kelowna RCMP say.
Police set up a checkpoint on Highway 97 C westbound near Peachland last Wednesday and pulled over more than 200 vehicles.
The drivers of 21 cars and trucks were ordered to turn around and return to the Okanagan due to various tire-related violations. These included worn out or bald tires, or not having winter tires.
“Our mountain passes can be extremely dangerous places to travel through in the winter,” West Kelowna Staff-Sgt. Duncan Dixon said in a Monday news release. “Not ensuring that your vehicle is roadside puts yourself, your passengers, and everyone around you at risk.”
Other drivers were ticketed for travelling too fast for highway conditions, having inadequate vehicle brakes and for not having a driver’s licence.
Pennask Summit, the highest point on the highway between Peachland and Merritt, has an elevation of 1,728 metres above sea level.
It is the second-highest mountain road in B.C., after the 1,775 metre elevation Kootenay Pass between Salmo and
Creston.
The highest point on the Coquihalla Highway between Merritt and Hope has an elevation of 1,244 metres above sea level.