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Overblown tragedies

Mooseman

Mooseman

I'm not all knowing. Post your question in forum.
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
3,944
Location
Greely, Ontario
Country
Canada
Snowmobile
'07 Venture MP (gone)
'07 Phazer FX (gone)
'09 Phazer GT (gone)
'10 RS Venture GT (My current ride)
'10 Nytro FX (son's)
LOCATION
Greely, ON Canada
Is it me or the media just likes to make out snowmobiling as an evil, deadly sport? Case in point, a recent death was the second to hit this family within a year. Now I can understand the family's reaction with the father saying "I'll never touch my machine ever again" because he had just lost his son and last year, his brother.

But, lots of families have lost loved ones to car accidents, motorcycle accidents, even biking. Do any of these say "I'll never drive again", "I'll never ride my motorcycle again" or "I'll never ride my bike again"? There have been more people killed here on bikes than on snowmobiles.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/danger...ile-crash-1-year-after-brother-died-1.2795390

And I don't believe that the media is being neutral, giving the story the title "Dangerous machine".
 

I know this family also....good people, but its not the snowmobiles fault.
 
Dangerous Machine. News media headlines that sell stories and selling the story is their business.

We lose on average 4 precious lives a year here in Manitoba during the sledding season. Each story makes headlines.

Truly sad. Not good for any family to go thru. A parent should never have to lay a child to rest for eternity.
 
We are certainly not made to outlive our children for sure but the media are exploiting this with these poor people. In this case, I think it was operator overconfidence, saying that he had been riding since he was 3 years old. Just lost respect of the machine.
 
Speculation, assuming or thinking why this sledder perished means nothing to the ones involved. The only one that truly knows is 6 feet under. Please let him rest.
Every time we plant ourselves at the controls of a motorized vehicle we put our lives on the line. The design of Mankind was not meant to travel in any mechanical way.
An accident is an accident. Some we learn from some we die from.
 
Mooseman said:
Is it me or the media just likes to make out snowmobiling as an evil, deadly sport? Case in point, a recent death was the second to hit this family within a year. Now I can understand the family's reaction with the father saying "I'll never touch my machine ever again" because he had just lost his son and last year, his brother.

But, lots of families have lost loved ones to car accidents, motorcycle accidents, even biking. Do any of these say "I'll never drive again", "I'll never ride my motorcycle again" or "I'll never ride my bike again"? There have been more people killed here on bikes than on snowmobiles.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/danger...ile-crash-1-year-after-brother-died-1.2795390

And I don't believe that the media is being neutral, giving the story the title "Dangerous machine".
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No mention of whether or not alcohol was a factor. I think that Alcohol is probably a huge factor in snowmobile, ATV, and motorcycle accidents. The legal 0.08 limit is pretty high. On a machine that is a lot less forgiving than a car even a small amount of alcohol isn't a good idea.
 
Yes, alcohol, drugs, texting and other things are large contributors of motorized vehicles accidents.
Lets stay with the known facts. Parents lost a son, wife lost a husband, unborn child will never meet his father, friends lost a friend.
 
Motorcycles used to be the medias most dangerous machine and my insurance company still thinks so. Mid size cruise bike is three times the cost of insurance as a top sport rated Sled of twice the hp. Its all about the story and the media has beaten Motorcycles to death so they moved on to a new whipping boy.
 
Surestick said:
No mention of whether or not alcohol was a factor. I think that Alcohol is probably a huge factor in snowmobile, ATV, and motorcycle accidents. The legal 0.08 limit is pretty high. On a machine that is a lot less forgiving than a car even a small amount of alcohol isn't a good idea.
Click to expand...
That's the leading cause in Minnesota for snowmobile deaths, its been averaging around 70% of the deaths were over .08. I refuse to ride with anyone anymore that wants to "drink and sled"
 
blueironranger said:
That's the leading cause in Minnesota for snowmobile deaths, its been averaging around 70% of the deaths were over .08. I refuse to ride with anyone anymore that wants to "drink and sled"
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There was a study done that showed a big correlation between increased collision risk and even a small amount of alcohol. I don't remember the name of the study but it was done in the US and involved giving breath tests to people involved in a collision of any type (minor fender benders & up) with the promise of legal amnesty from impaired driving prosecution no matter the results. I'm guessing collisions involving injuries or death were excluded but those would already be under investigation for alcohol and other factors by the police. Anyway, it showed that even a small amount of alcohol, even way below the legal limit, had an impact on driving ability.

I think it might be the study quoted here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...a-car-crash-skyrocket/?utm_term=.3b9fd692f0c4
I believe the decreased collision risk for drivers in the .01 range came down to being within the margin or error in the study.

In Alberta we have a Provincial limit of .05 that involves a Provincial license suspension and vehicle seizure but no criminal charges, then criminal charges if the driver is over .08. You'd be surprised how drunk the .08 limit is too. For a 180-200 lb male you'd probably be looking at 6 or 7 drinks in an hour or less.
 
Same in Ontario. between .05 and .08, 3 day suspension and vehicle tow as well. You have to re-apply for your license back at the MTO. Oh, and your insurance will also know since it's added to your record so more $$$. If you're a G2 or under 25, it's 0 (zero) alcohol and you get a summons for court for driving without a license since you were basically driving outside of your conditions and you also get to start over the process of getting a license for the first time. Over .08, you get an automatic 90 day suspension, 7 day impound and criminal charges.

In this day and age, I don't understand why people are still doing this, car or sled.
 
Mooseman said:
Same in Ontario. between .05 and .08, 3 day suspension and vehicle tow as well. You have to re-apply for your license back at the MTO. Oh, and your insurance will also know since it's added to your record so more $$$. If you're a G2 or under 25, it's 0 (zero) alcohol and you get a summons for court for driving without a license since you were basically driving outside of your conditions and you also get to start over the process of getting a license for the first time. Over .08, you get an automatic 90 day suspension, 7 day impound and criminal charges.

In this day and age, I don't understand why people are still doing this, car or sled.
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The short answer is: Because they are criminals.
 
A young boy just died in Minnesota. Not because he was drinking but because the guy driving the sled was drunk and ran into him and his dad while they were setting up there fish house. This guy has had many priors in the past. Just like Surestick said, they are criminals and they will most likely do it again. This guy will be going to jail now for awhile to think about this poor judgment.
 
Very sad, Some snowmobilers and atvers are in the habit of thinking that snowmobiling and atving are the last frontier for drinking and riding sense they are in the woods and not out on the highway's, and you can't tell them no different, I don't mind somebody having a beer but when their sole mission is to get drunk and act a fool on a snowmobile or atv then that's when families and others out for a enjoyable trail ride and to have some fun sadly get some very close calls or even worst hit or get run in to, but nobody seems to say anything or put a stop to it, you are likely to get in a major confrontation if you say anything to these fools but these guy's are giving our sport a bad name, I see this all the time and know a lot of riders that avoid beautiful trail riding area's because of these type's of fools are riding these area's, it seems when somebody gets hurt or worst and makes headlines that we revisit this problem but end up doing nothing and hope that this goes away.
 
20/80 said:
Very sad, Some snowmobilers and atvers are in the habit of thinking that snowmobiling and atving are the last frontier for drinking and riding sense they are in the woods and not out on the highway's, and you can't tell them no different, I don't mind somebody having a beer but when their sole mission is to get drunk and act a fool on a snowmobile or atv then that's when families and others out for a enjoyable trail ride and to have some fun sadly get some very close calls or even worst hit or get run in to, but nobody seems to say anything or put a stop to it, you are likely to get in a major confrontation if you say anything to these fools but these guy's are giving our sport a bad name, I see this all the time and know a lot of riders that avoid beautiful trail riding area's because of these type's of fools are riding these area's, it seems when somebody gets hurt or worst and makes headlines that we revisit this problem but end up doing nothing and hope that this goes away.
Click to expand...

Drinking & sledding in New Brunswick is insane, the worst on friday & Saturday night, thats why I don't trail ride much & not hardly at all at night on the weekends. Ive seen guys get off their sleds & were so drunk they literally couldn't stand up, its brutal. You roll into a warming hut in NB on a Saturday night & 80% of the people in there will be loaded drunk.
 
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