Snowmobile deaths- Michigan

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lenny

Guest
not looking for a pissing match but I find it very Ironic that almost all the people making jokes in this thread about sled safety are the very same people that jumped in on helmet laws on motorcycles and everyone of you said mc riders should wear helmets and pay huge ins only to protect you from paying doc bills and what ever else.......I should go dig that thread up bet it be a good read now....
am I missing something here?
 
G

G

Guest
The article states that 18% of the fatal accidents involved excessive speed. This means that 82% of the accidents did not involve excessive speed. It is obvious that it is dangerous to travel slower. Seems to me that a person would be safer traveling at excessive speed.
 

sixball

New member
"he may have been racing at speeds topping 65 m.p.h." YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Likely another poorly written Freepress articular.
 

united

Active member
Exactly. This article would be more lucid if the paper were placed under a bucket of muck. Dictionary.com defines Speeding as the act or practice of exceeding the speed limit. From the article "Michigan does not have a maximum speed limit for snowmobilers" and "Speeding a major cause of snowmobile deaths". Which is it? The interpretation of the statistics are jumbled around as well.

Lots of news pages to fill every day, every week, every month. Reminds me of the scene in Donnie Brasco where he is hitting the parking meter with the hammer, I gotta earn.
 

chords

Active member
This article Is from Feb 2011. In the 2 years since, havnt riders slowed down and drive more safely ?
 

goofy600

Well-known member
Just found a website from Michigan dnr called 2012/2013 fatality summery and as of 2-14-2013 it states 7 fatality's.
 

POLARISDAN

New member
Ok..heres the facts..wis has averaged 26 deaths a year past 5 years..mn avgs 7..but 2 years ago when we had all the sno..we had 27 in mn...with all the rider miles in mi..its insane to say that 26 is too many or out if the norm..its just a matter of miles of trails..the insane amount of riders..and just plain statistics ..more sleds..more miles..more deaths..geez..the guy just killed himself in his own yard...
 

polarisrider1

New member
Ok..heres the facts..wis has averaged 26 deaths a year past 5 years..mn avgs 7..but 2 years ago when we had all the sno..we had 27 in mn...with all the rider miles in mi..its insane to say that 26 is too many or out if the norm..its just a matter of miles of trails..the insane amount of riders..and just plain statistics ..more sleds..more miles..more deaths..geez..the guy just killed himself in his own yard...

One (1) is to many.
 

Firecatguy

New member
Did you ever notice that the drunks always seem to live thru a crash. I am sure there are statistics on this.


I have said this very thing for the last 20years with all the fatal accidents and recoverys I have been to with my job the drunks seems to walk away from some the hardest and worst stuff year after year....I have come up with a theory for it....when not drunk you stiffen up and the force is that much stronger but drunk you just go with the flow....could be way off but that the only logical thing I came up with to explane what I have seen...
 

durphee

Well-known member
The problem with articles like this is that it sways the court of public opinion. Hence, if people, even non snowmobilers, find this trend a problem then you get pressure to change and the end result is more regulations. So whether you agree/disagree with the article is beside the point. I always say self regulation (snowmobilers setting and guiding the regulations instead of outside politicians and interest groups) is the best regulation, but that unfortunately doesn't work very well.
 

upsledder

Member
The media is ALWAYS quick to point out the speed and alcohol factors. Other circumstances could also be pointed out. A good example is the crash on Cedar River last weekend.

http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/540695/Snowmobile-crash-kills-Spalding----.html

From what I heard (not sure if it's true) the other guys in the group stated that the tree had fallen in between the trip down river and the return trip.

If it's true, Bad luck seems to be a factor also. Al they say is it's "under investigation". Will they post a follow up article? I doubt it.
 
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