Raleigh City Council approved new and enhanced regulations for parades which will allow motorized vehicles to return to these events.
Over the last year and a half, staff in the Office of Special Events and City Attorney’s Office have reviewed potential changes and diligently worked to craft new parade safety requirements.
These new and enhanced requirements include:
- Parade organizers must screen entries by collecting:
- A valid driver’s license for the class of vehicle they wish to operate in the parade with no relevant moving violations.
- Evidence an operator is trained to safely operate a specialty float and the vehicle is appropriately rated to tow the assigned float.
- For any motorized vehicle in the parade, organizers must have proof of a recent (within 30 days of the event) vehicle safety check by a qualified mechanic familiar with that type of vehicle. The inspection must include operation of the vehicle’s brakes, tires, lights, horn, emissions, and a current registration.
- Parade organizers must conduct a risk assessment to identify risks that are most likely to occur or would have the greatest impact on participants or spectators.
- Parade organizers must now obtain an Operator Safety Acknowledgement from each driver.
- Parade organizers will ensure that every motorized vehicle included in the parade satisfies points of inspection in the Motorized Vehicle Inspections Checklist before the vehicle leaves the staging area.
- Parade organizers will hold required meetings with participants prior to event.
- Parade organizers will be required to submit an official lineup of all parade entries to the City.
Staff did extensive benchmarking and connecting with other cities and organizations across the state, the region, and the country to look at best practices. They also met with several parade organizers to get their input and recommendations, as well as reviewed input from the public in an online feedback form.
Our top priority is and has always been the health, safety, and welfare of our community.
These new requirements take effect June 25.