A commercial truck driver has been fined after the Richmond RCMP says they were transporting a load of trees, branches, and other plants on their flatdeck without being properly secured.
The RCMP says patrol officers saw the truck on Highway 91.
“The officer pulled behind the vehicle and noted the load did not appear to be secured,” the RCMP said in a release Friday.
Images shared by Mounties show wayward tree branches dragging behind the vehicle on the roadway, with the base and roots of the trees also included in the load.
“When I saw those pictures, I was just in shock. It’s so hard for me to understand how somebody could drive around with an unsecure load like that. It just poses such a risk to the drivers and other road users,” Corp. Adriana O’Malley told CityNews.
“By failing to secure a load such as those trees, if the individual is driving — even if they’re driving at 50 kilometres per hour, the speed limit — if those trees came off of the vehicle and they struck another vehicle or they hit, say, a pedestrian, they would pose a significant risk to them.”
One image shows a person using a saw to cut the tree limbs that are hanging over the flatdeck on the side, seemingly to contain the load after being pulled over.
O’Malley says there was “no effort made to secure the load.”
The RCMP says following an inspection, three violations were reported:
- Driver Operates Commercial or Business Vehicle without Proper Equipment or with Insecure (sic) Cargo – BC Motor Vehicle Act Regulations (MVAR) $288.00
- Load or Projection over 1.2 m in rear without red flag or cloth – BC MVAR $ 109.00
- Fail to Comply with Trip Inspection Requirements – BC MVAR $ 138.00
As a result, police say the driver was handed $535 in total fines. The company was also issued points under the National Safety Code, Mounties say.
“If you are out on the road and you see a vehicle like this and it appears the load has not been secured or it looks unsafe, call police, report it. We want to keep the roads safe for all users and a vehicle like this does pose a risk to everyone that is using the roadways,” O’Malley said.
She’s encouraging commercial drivers to educate themselves on requirements under the B.C. Motor Vehicle Act and Regulations.
-With files from Cole Schisler