Perth driver fined for carting 54 people in horse trailer

A 48-year-old man from Perth East Township has been fined for pulling a double horse trailer packed with 54 people.

A Perth County OPP officer pulled over a Ford pickup truck pulling the trailer Saturday around 11 p.m. The trailer looked like it was filled with people.

"It didn't look like horses," media Constable Kees Wijnands said.

When the driver opened the trailer doors, 54 people spilled out. They were headed to the Milverton Fairgrounds to attend the Milverton Rodeo dance.

"They figured probably it was a safe way, they weren't drinking or driving. There was no alcohol with any one of them. No booze on the trailer or truck." he said.

"On the one hand maybe they were trying to be very responsible, trying to get there without having anyone drink," he said. "On the other hand, it is fairly illegal to operate a trailer with occupants in the trailer, whether it be a boat trailer, house trailer or horse trailer."

Wijnands suggests a group this size would have been better off to rent a bus or a couple of passenger vans.

"The officer acted out of his concern for the well-being for these individuals. If that trailer got hit, we could be looking at some serious bodily injuries," he said. 

The driver has been fined $110 under the Highway Traffic Act for drawing an occupied trailer.