Safety should be a concern everywhere you ride, whether it be a snowmachine, car, truck, ATV, bike, or even on skis. You always have to be careful, another machine can come flying around the corner, there could be a fallen log or boulder, someone could be walking or even sitting down after an accident or break down, a large animal could jump out in front of you, logging equipment could pull out, etc, etc. Yes, accidents still happen, but that shouldn't stop you from getting out and having fun. You should never assume that just because you are on a trail or road that you can go carelessly blazing along without concern for others that could be out there for whatever reason. Speed and alcohol can greatly increase these risks which is why we have a few laws and common sense. Sadly, there are times when even snowmobilers are afraid to be out on the trails let alone anyone on foot because of the drunken mayhem (like 2:00AM New Years Day).
People are riding snowmachines and ATVs all over up here now, and not just on specific trails. So if safety is a such a big concern then people need to ride only on the marked trails and nowhere else. I don't see that happening anytime soon. People that own private property sometimes choose to exclude other users if they have the legal right to do so (ski areas for example). Snowmobile trails that are on purchased or leased land without other landowner easements existing might also have those exclusive rights. But many snowmobile trails up here are on County Roads (Brockway Mountain for example), and other roads that cross and are used to access private property (owned by people like me who pay full taxes), and some cross areas of Commercial Forest Reserve (access guaranteed by law for hunting and fishing in return for reduced taxes). Not everyone rides a snowmachine that has legal access to this property, so people might be travelling these corridors by other means. Most of us are friendly unless threatened or disrespected, and safety hopefully shouldn't be an issue. More laws are not what we really need. More common sense and courtesy (on both sides) is what we really need.
As far as wheel vehicles go, if they are damaging the groomed trail they should stay off. Nor should snowmachines spin out tearing up the trail or creating "push piles". Good luck with that! I, myself, do not own a snow bike nor do I dog sled. I do occasionally ski or walk (with great discretion) on some of the aforementioned routes and have been doing so (legally as far as I know) for over 30 years.
