RHINELANDER, WI (WSAU-WXPR) — This is International Snowmobile Safety Week which is underscored by a snowmobile death in Iron county last Sunday.
A 47-year-old woman was killed in a crash on Trail 17 just outside Hurley. DNR Recreation Warden Mark Little tells WXPR Radio there are several factors required in smart snowmobile operation. “You need to be sober when you operate that machine. It’s hard enough to operate that machine when you are sober, then you couple that with alcohol or other drugs and it becomes much more challenging.
“Drive smart. Stop at stop signs. Stay on the right side of the trail. Watch your speed, especially at night when there are others in the area, a concentrated area, or congested areas like cities and villages where those trails go through. You have to drive so defensively on a snowmobile.”
Warden Little says speed is also a critical factor in many crashes. “Most of the crashes that we have are generally a single person who has gone off a curve and struck a fixed object like a tree. Had speed not been a factor, most of those crashes could have been avoided. It comes back to smart driving and doesn’t overdrive your skill.”
He says speed is a key factor in night time operation where the speed limit is 55 miles per hour. Little says overdriving headlights is a problem as you need time to react.
Little notes that driving on lakes, especially at night, can be dangerous. He says there are snow-covered open water, ice fishing equipment, and shacks, islands, rocks, tree limbs and more on frozen lakes.
Little reports four people have died in snowmobile crashes in January alone.
