Snowmobile Safety: Don’t Drink and Ride
Snowmobile trail season is fast approaching in many parts of the country, and with it, the time to enjoy winter “recreation” of all kinds. But before you order a beer at the restaurant or accept a drink with friends before a ride, think twice about alcohol and snowmobile safety.
Alcohol is the number-one drug problem in the U.S., not least of all because of the ways it impairs a driver’s ability to properly react to the dangers of the road or the trail. While drinking and driving laws for cars and other road vehicles are well established in most states, the rules and repercussions of operating a snowmobile under the influence are often less defined or universal.
In Minnesota and Michigan, for instance, if you are caught driving a snowmobile with a blood alcohol content level higher than 0.08%, those violations can be tied into your driving record. You can be charged with a misdemeanor or criminal felony, depending on where you are and your level of intoxication.
However, many local and state snowmobile associations promote a voluntary “zero-tolerance” policy for drinking and riding. Drivers can take a pledge not to consume any alcohol until they’re done riding for the day as a way to encourage safety on the trails.
“We can dance around the subject all we want, we can say ‘know when to say when’ or other campaigns, but bottom line is that there is only one safe stance to take,” said Michigan Snowmobile Association executive director Bill Manson.
Alcohol was a factor in 38% of fatal snowmobile accidents in Michigan in the 2007-2008 season, which is actually a relatively low number compared to other areas. In Minnesota that same year, alcohol was involved in 44% of snowmobile fatalities, and in Wisconsin, 64%.
Along with your own safety, riding sober helps protect other people on the trails. Few will forget the terrible incident earlier this year at the Iditarod race in Alaska, in which a heavily intoxicated snowmobiler crashed into a sled team and killed one of the dogs.
Stricter laws on alcohol and snowmobiles “would be a good way to increase safety and enjoyment,” said Gary Eddy of the Wisconsin Bureau of Law Enforcement in the Department of Natural Resources. “We will start seeing an increase of families out there snowmobiling. Every season, we hear that people won’t ride at night or on weekends because drunks and crazies are on the trail. It’s a terrible thing to hear that people are afraid to be on public trails.”
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