Deadly corner!!!

[horny red devil]

Cat hunter what did you think the problem was (poor visibility) night time riding for example maybe in alittle hurry getting home? or do you think the trail has a problem let us know or try to post those pics but your better off being there to see for yourself thats why I ask.

 

[cat hunter]

Sorry for the delay with the pictures had to wait for my daughters day off work.Here's what I saw.Let me know what you think.

 

[cat hunter]

Thought I would add this for your enjoyment. Another Arctic Cat meltown ,with Yamaha to the rescue.

 

[billymx815]

Thanks for the photos. I agree this corner doesn't appear out of the ordinary and I can see directional signs in your pics. And if you say it can be taken safely at 50mph than I have to believe speed and visibility must have been to blame. Unfortunate

 

[rx1pat]

Unless I'm missing something that doesn't look like that sharp of a corner. I was expecting coming over a hill then a sudden 90 degree turn without proper signs at the crest. It always comes down to speed. If you can't maintain control of your sled because of speed or poor conditions, you're riding to fast. If your ability, weather, etc dictates that you take the corner at 20mph to maintain control, then thats the speed you ride. Most snowmobile accidents are the result of alcohol, excessive speed or both. I'm not at the accident scene, but looks like traveling to fast to negotiate the corner. If a person went off the trail at 50mph vs 20mph does that make the difference in injury?

Billymx you're spot on with everything else you said.

Bottomline, very sad for the families involved. I think about my kids all the time when i ride so as to keep it in perspective. The older i get I think about slowing down and taking in some of the scenery as well. As others have said can be a dangerous sport.

 

[ITHAPPENS]

Thanks Cat Hunter (Bagged another feline I see), just like you I was curious about this corner. Seems like most other corners in our area, all can be deadly depending on conditions and speed! I wonder if the corner was iced out after that warm spell, as we left on a 3 day 1,000km run on that Sat. morning from Montpellier. Several wash outs and bad corners so had to adjust our riding to compensate. Some fantastic conditions also but still had to be prepared for the worst on corners. Very sad that these deaths occurred but odd it should occur in the same spot when it doesn't appear to be any different from thousands of marked corners on our trails! My condolences to everyone involved.

 

[horny red devil]

thanx for photos and it looks like a normal trail more than likely just a mistake on both of them which unfortunatly lead to their deaths.That could of easily happend to me a few times I was just lucky and I would imagine others feel the same way. Thoughts and prayers for both families.

 

[bottlerocket]

Unfortunely speed was a factor and this should not be titled a deadly corner!

 

[Sasquatch]

That's the difference between the US and Canada where we don't have frivolous lawsuits because people don't take responsibility for their own actions. If I'm speeding on a trail and kill myself, no amount of signage will prevent that and the courts (Canadian ones anyway) will recognize that.

You are wrong! One of the Lawsuits against the OFSC was a guy who was speeding and drunk while carrying his daughter as a passenger. He died she is crippled and the family sued because the corner sign was a 45 instead of a 90. They won millions!

Or the skier who was hit by a snowmobile on the lake, They where not on a groomed trail. There was not even an OFSC trail anywhere near the accident. OFSC paid out to get thier name off the suit. We could also bring up how the president of that club had to take time off work and travel thousands of kms to and from the court hearings. He has resigned as president because of the stress and time in court and traveling away from home.

I can give more examples but won't! Law suits are why the price of a trail pass is 250 bucks on Ontario. They are also why many volunteers are afraid to step forward and be on the executive of a club!

People are encouraged by lawyers to name everyone in a law suit even if you can't see the OFSC trail from the accident site sue them anyway! The reason there are not more suits is many people won't sue someone else because of thier own stupidity, unless a Lawyer gets involved! Say in the case of death or permanant disability!

 

[Sasquatch]

If that is a deadly corner then we have a few hundred of them here! Another dead sledder though is painful and hurts the sport! We just lost a 23 year old from Geraldton near Ear Falls just north of here. No details!

I feel sick everytime a sledder dies!

 

[yamahas]

Thanks for the pictures.

By looking at the pictures it looks well marked and conditions must have been a factor being speed,visibility or whatever else might be the case. This corner does not look like what news reports made it out to be, very unfortunate/sad accident.

My thought go out to the families.

 

[cat hunter]

In my opinion from what I seen both victims were responsible for the accidents not the trail!!! In the 18 miles to the next village there was at least a dozen spots where speeders missed corners that no one heard about.The grandson was carrying the camera behind me or I would have taken some pictures.I was told that the widow of the last victim went to the local council meeting trying to get the trail closed!!!

 

[attak2007]

That trail is just to good to ride on and the guys just dont slow down.Its sad but you need to ne responsible .

 

[Mooseman]

Yes, those pictures tell a thousand words. Although it looks well signed now, there's no way to know if they were added after the accidents. Either way, the papers and the widow made it sound worse than it was as a "problem" corner. It was likely just coincidence it happened at the same spot. Overconfidence, driver inattention, speed are likely culprits. I can see that happen, a nice long wide straight trail, humming along and "forgetting" to slow down for the curve.

While trying to find some of these lawsuits that the OFSC had been slapped with, I found this interesting 2005 article that explains things very well from the insurance side of things:
http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/issue ... 20Archives
Some of the eye grabbing stuff:
"As a result, premiums for commercial general liability policies for snowmobile federations have jumped exponentially over the past four to five years. The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Club (OFSC)'s general liability insurance increased from $360,000 in 2001 to $3.1 million in 2003 - a whopping increase of more than 1,000% over two years."
"Insurance is not the solution, as long as the federations and trail associations are still on the hook for liability," Don Forgeron, vice-president of IBC, Atlantic region, says. "They have to look at ways to limit the liability they are currently operating under. And until such a time is reached, unfortunately, they will be forced to deal with higher insurance premiums."
The major liability concern in many cases is not the lawsuits, but rather the mounting defence costs required to contest the litigation (the FCMQ had to pay defence costs for the noise lawsuit). "What ends up happening is that anyone can sue anyone under any circumstances. So the lawsuit goes out and you still have to pay a lawyer to reduce that or get your name discharged," says Sherren.

So it's probably cheaper to just pay out everybody who slaps a lawsuit rather than fight it, like the case of the skier killed off-trail. Either way, you lose, even if you win in court.

 

[horny red devil]

YUP!!believe me I know.That's what I was getting at in the begining of this it's never cut and dry when someone has a lawyer on their side as a matter of fact before these guys were buried I wouldn't be surprised if the lawyers were ringing their phone off the hook!