Raleigh revamps parade rules after last year’s holiday tragedy

The city of Raleigh is requiring float drivers in parades to be at least 21 years old, starting with this weekend’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.

Saturday’s parade will be the first since the city revamped its requirements after an 11-year-old girl was fatally struck by a truck towing a float in the Raleigh Christmas Parade last year.

“Recognizing that event organizers are the key to safe events, the city has imposed additional requirements for those event organizers,” Assistant City Manager Evan Raleigh said in a written statement. “The requirements are aimed at promoting safety for parades and other events that take place in city right-of-way and involve non-city of Raleigh drivers, vehicles and trailers.”

Previously the city required parade organizers to provide an “emergency action plan,” certificate of liability insurance and to participate in pre-event planning meetings with city representatives.

“The new waiver form does not necessarily convey new requirements in all instances and was developed to both consolidate and more expressly articulate requirements specifically for parade organizers as opposed to organizers of other types of special events that the city permits,” Raleigh said in a follow-up email when asked which requirements were new.

Other requirements include limiting the number of passengers in participating vehicles to no more than one person at least 18 years of age and requiring minors to be supervised.

“Organizers must also affirm that they have complied with a host of safety requirements in advance of the event,” Raleigh said in the statement. “These requirements include, but are not limited to, ensuring that all participating vehicles and trailers have a current and valid vehicle registration plate, requiring all vehicles to have automobile liability coverage and confirming that all drivers possess a valid license for the class and type of vehicle they will be operating during the event.”

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade normally has fewer floats than the Raleigh Christmas Parade.

Organizers of the Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day Parade initially told The News & Observer they’d be able to speak Tuesday afternoon but didn’t follow-up with more information.

The parade begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lane and Wilmington streets and zig-zags through Wilmington, Morgan, Fayetteville, Davie and Salisbury streets downtown.

For more information about the parade go to raleighstpats.org.

This story was originally published March 9, 2023 at 8:10 AM.

Anna Roman

The News & Observer

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Anna Roman is a service journalism reporter for the News & Observer. She has previously covered city government, crime and business for newspapers across North Carolina and received many North Carolina Press Association awards, including first place for investigative reporting.