Vancouver Police are recommending thousands of dollars in fines after the traffic enforcement team took seven party buses and limos off the streets in a weekend safety blitz.
On Friday (Dec. 10) and Saturday nights, VPD Traffic Section officers inspected eight vehicles, which included three party buses and five limousines, explains a news release.
Alarmingly, only one driver was permitted to complete their evening service following an inspection. Officers identified "major safety concerns" on seven other vehicles, which ranged from "inoperable emergency exits and open liquor to broken seatbelts and missing emergency brakes."
“We always encourage people to plan a ride home when they go out to celebrate, and we trust that people operating limos and party buses will do everything they can to keep people safe,” said Sgt. Steve Addison. “Sadly, many of the vehicles inspected were in appalling shape or were being driven in a dangerous way.”
In one case, investigators discovered seats being propped up by a two-inch piece of wood.
Vancouver Police Department Traffic Unit Sgt. Mark Christensen took to Twitter on Saturday to share a few images of a party bus, a limousine, and also a seat that was being propped up by a piece of wood.
He describes "serious safety defects" including the lack of an emergency brake, inoperable exits, and, of course, the wood that was propping up seats.
"Not as safe as you thought!" quipped the sergeant in remarks.
Conducted safety inspections on party buses/limos with PTB & CVSE. Only managed to inspect 2 buses/5 limos, all had serious safety defects (no E-brake, inoperable emerg exits, wood holding up seats etc). 6 removed from road! #NotAsSafeAsYouThought @VancouverPD @ChiefPalmer pic.twitter.com/BWQi7yIBom
— Sgt Mark Christensen (@baldguy1363) December 11, 2021
In a different incident, VPD officers recommended 27 counts of failing to provide a chaperone for passengers under 19, allowing open liquor in a vehicle, and operating with too many passengers. Find out more about this overcrowded part bus incident in downtown Vancouver.
Party buses over the pandemic
Vancouver party bus operators have been a source of contention over the pandemic in the Metro Vancouver region, as some drivers have been caught exceeding passenger limits. Additionally, restaurants and bars had a maximum limit of five people per table in 2020 while party bus companies were permitted to allow dozens of passengers per vehicle.
In a particularly high-profile incident, a 25-year-old man drew criticism for travelling with a group of friends from the Fraser Valley to Downtown Vancouver to party on a weekend. However, he told Vancouver Is Awesome that the group wasn't breaking any rules as there were no restrictions for passenger limits on the commercial vehicles.
Read more about the controversial incident from the summer of 2020.
