Snowmobile deaths fuel reform talk

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With the death of a Massachusetts man last weekend in Eustis, this winter became the deadliest snowmobiling season in Maine history, prompting some observers to declare the time may be right to reform the popular winter sport.

Thirteen people have been killed in snowmobiling accidents this winter, and with several weeks of good riding left, it’s likely more will die.

“Unfortunately, someone out there is snowmobiling with a number [14] on their back,” said Lt. Pat Dorion of the Maine Warden Service.

Most of the 50 snowmobiling fatalities and more than a quarter of the injuries that have been reported to the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife during the past six winters have one factor in common – speed.

“Virtually all of these were preventable – people don’t get killed on snowmobiles just as a fluke,” said Bob Meyers, executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association.

A few people always have pushed their snowmobiles to top speed, but in recent years the machines have become bigger and more powerful, and testing a sled’s abilities has become increasingly dangerous. Maine has reached the previous record number of 12 fatalities only three times, and all occurred during the past 10 years.

“There isn’t a sled made now that won’t hit 100 mph,” Dorion said. “There’s no protection when you’re going 60, 70, 80 miles per hour.”

Maine law places no limitations on snowmobile speed, saying only that riders must use a “reasonable and prudent” speed for the conditions.

“There are some young hotheads out there with big engines who have a few drinks and then go drive a little fast, but they’re the minority,” said John Willard, who caters to snowmobilers at White Birches, his lodge north of Greenville.

Every time Maine experiences a long, snowy winter, the number of snowmobile fatalities climbs, simply because there are more people spending more time out on the trails. Most people follow the letter of the law, Meyers said.

“Certainly, these fatalities are awful things, but they’re not necessarily a barometer of what’s happening out there,” he said. About 100,000 snowmobiles are registered for use in Maine.

But as a tragic December accident on Sabattus Lake, in which a pedestrian was struck and killed by a snowmobile, indicated, reckless drivers can put the whole community at risk.

Fort Kent took action last fall, instituting the state’s first snowmobile speed limit on in-town trails in an attempt to protect pedestrians and cross-country skiers.

“We have a nice trail and people were abusing it,” said Police Chief Kenneth Michaud. “A lot of the older people were selling their sleds. They don’t want to meet some fool going 80 mph. They don’t want to die.”

Downtown, the legal speed is 15 mph, and for seven miles heading out of town, officers enforce a 45-mph limit. Michaud’s officers have issued summonses for speeding to six snowmobilers and warnings to countless others.

Most Saturdays, a cruiser sits near the major trail running through town. The highly visible officer with his radar gun has proved an effective deterrent to speeders.

Michaud calls his program a success, if only for discouraging reckless drivers from coming to Fort Kent.

With weekly reports of snowmobile deaths, some people are calling for a statewide speed limit, but neither snowmobilers, wardens nor even Michaud support such an ambitious plan.

“It’s the age-old problem,” Dorion said. “Who’s going to enforce it?”

With more than 13,000 miles of trails and 90 wardens charged with enforcing ice fishing rules and game laws as well as watching snowmobile speed, enforcing a speed limit just isn’t possible, he said.

Quebec, New Hampshire and Vermont all have speed limits, but their accident rates per snowmobiler are as high or higher than that in Maine. Enforcing current rules with trail stops and education programs is needed far more than a new speed limit, Meyers said.

The presence of a single warden can be a big deterrent. “It’s like driving by a state trooper on the interstate,” he said.

However, Gov. John Baldacci’s budget proposal for 2004-2005 would eliminate funding for eight wardens and cut the service’s total budget by 14 percent.

“We’re disturbed looking at the governor’s budget proposal – this isn’t a time to be cutting wardens,” Meyers said.

Sen. David Carpenter, R-Sanford, doesn’t believe current rules are sufficient. The legislator has introduced a bill that would create a new snowmobile driver’s license.

To become licensed, a rider would have to complete a safety course and pass driving tests. The bill also would mandate helmets for all riders and require that snowmobilers carry insurance.

As with motor vehicles, children under age 16 no longer would be allowed to drive snowmobiles.

“I don’t like making more restrictive laws, but it seems we have to do something,” Carpenter told The Associated Press earlier this winter.

While fatalities don’t seem to affect people’s willingness to go snowmobiling in Maine, new restrictions very well might, Meyers said.

The Maine Snowmobile Association long has opposed new requirements like those in Carpenter’s bill for fear they might harm the economic force that brings between $150 million and $300 million to Maine each year.

Instead, the MSA and DIF&W turn to public service announcements and safety clinics. A massive safety campaign launched after a record number of fatalities in 1996 succeeded in getting the numbers down. But with the current budget climate, such intensive programs are difficult to fund.

Meyers and Dorion have teamed up for a new safety campaign in the Greenville area that they believe to be the only solution to the speed problem. Members of local snowmobile clubs, typically responsible riders, are taking on the responsibility for a public outreach campaign in local schools, on trails, in restaurants – anywhere and everywhere, Dorion said.

The challenge is impressing upon reckless, often young snowmobilers the seriousness of their actions.

The family of one man who was killed a few weeks ago is considering donating his shattered snowmobile to the Warden Service so it can be displayed as a deterrent to speed, Dorion said.

The warden described the shattered plastic, the crumpled metal and the bloodied snow he sees every winter.

“If people could be in a game warden’s shoes and see what we see in one winter, they’d change their ways,” Dorion said.