A 32-year-old man was airlifted to Kamloops General Hospital Tuesday after he crashed his dirt bike on the KVR trail near Tulameen.
The rider, from the Lower Mainland, was in serious but stable condition Wednesday morning, according to Chad Parsons, Princeton RCMP corporal and detachment commander.
The incident is the third serious bike accident in the Tulameen area this year, a popular resort community approximately 26 km northwest of Princeton.
On June 30 a 26-year-old visitor to the area was killed when the dirt bike he was riding on Coalmont Road collided head on with a pick up truck.
Related: Man killed when dirt bike crashes head on with truck near Tulameen
That incident is still under investigation.
During the long weekend in May a Surrey man, 24, who had just purchased a home in Tulameen, died when his motorcycle left the road and plunged 25 feet into Otter Lake.
Related: Man killed after motorcycle plunges into Otter Lake
According to Parsons the latest accident occurred when the rider lost control of his bike, near a section of trail that washed out during the spring flood.
He suffered chest injuries and injuries to his arm and wrist.
Parsons said the rider was wearing a helmet, and was well-equipped with body armor and riding boots.
“It was definitely a factor in reducing injuries,” he said.
Alcohol was not a factor in this accident, said Parsons, and the bike was properly insured and licensed.
“Being unfamiliar with the area may have been a factor,” he said. “Know your limit and ride within it.”
Parsons, who early this summer committed greater RCMP resources to the Tulameen area and has initiated ATV patrols of the region’s trails, said police will continue to make Tulameen a priority.
“We’ll continue with our patrols and education and enforcement. Expect to see us.”
Plans are already in place for a further enhanced police presence on the August long weekend, which coincides with the annual Tulameen Days festival. That event typically attracts 4,000 people.
“So on Tulameen Days we are going to be back out in the Tulameen area both on quads and in police cars, again looking for people either driving erratically or dangerously on ATVs or dirt bikes.”
As in past years, extra officers will be assigned to the community.
“We will have extra members brought in for both days and nights and there will be several members that will be specifically assigned to the Tulameen area.”
Last year over the three-day event RCMP – while reporting that most of the revellers were well-behaved – said they laid one charge of impaired driving, wrote six tickets for consuming alcohol in a public place, and arrested and incarcerated two people for public drunkenness.
There were no complaints of assaults or illegal fires, however there were incidents of people throwing beer bottles at police, and one person hit a police cruiser with a full can of beer.
The first fatality in Tulameen this summer prompted some local residents to speak out about stunt driving they associated with visitors to the small resort town.
They coined the term “weekend warriors” to describe the behaviour.
Related: Weekend warriors cause trouble in Tulameen
Related: Tensions high at meeting to address “weekend warriors”
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