Winter Snowmobiling as Sport
As we delve deeper into winter we inevitably see increasing reports of people addicted to the winter recreational activity of snowmobiling killing themselves. Winter is not, of course, the only season when people use recreational vehicles of this type to entertain themselves and have fun with, along with their friends. Adults and children alike use all-terrain vehicles in non-winter months. And their use too results in countless fatalities.
It might seem odd to state that people are killing themselves, since all they're doing, as far as they're concerned, is having a good time. Getting out into the environment and enjoying what winter brings to Canada, lots of snow and frozen lakes to skim over. We've also got plenty of forests and trees that go dormant in winter as the landscape is blanketed deep in snow.
People also like to warm themselves up a little internally, not simply externally, by pulling on fleecies and down-filled jackets and warm winter snowmobiling boots. There's a tendency to lubricate the interior as well, and beer is usually the liquid of choice, although one might think that a hot brew would do a better job of it - warming the innards, that is.
Coffee gives a jolt of caffeine, and makes us more alert, while beer relaxes tensions and makes people more jovial in a group of happy snowmobilers. And, come to think of it, driving a snowmobile is just like driving any other motor vehicle. It requires a clear head, attention to what is transpiring ahead, and avoidance of either immovable or other movable objects like other snowmobiles, or perchance, hefty tree trunks.
If snowmobilers in their enthusiasm for their sport, driving out onto partially frozen lakes at night, and not being sufficiently aware of weak or open spots in the ice, happen to crash through the ice, why then an accident occurs often resulting in a tragic death. If that tragedy doesn't happen on a frozen lake, then it happens in a semi-forested environment where a sudden lack of control can cause a collision, ending in death.
And so it is, and so it goes. This past week five people were killed snowmobiling on winter trails in Quebec. Out on the Ottawa River with friends, Joe Leafloor, a young man with a powerful machine, and not all that much experience with it, became confused in the dark, went in the wrong direction and crashed his snowmobile. His friends tried CPR but to no avail.
His best friend, who was with him at the time, and who had enjoyed his company since childhood, lamented the loss of his friend. "He was a very positive guy to be around." The machines can be dangerous, said the friend. "Personally I've had many people I know die on snowmobile and 4-wheelers", giving him pause about their ubiquitous use as casual, recreational tools.
"The problem is when you live down here - I have a two-year-old and a three-year-old. They're going to be on them, they're going to be riding on them when they're older, whether I like it or not. When you get to be a certain age, you stop listening to mum and dad... The way the machines are built nowadays, they don't top out at 50, 60 miles an hour anymore. The average machine is a 500 CC engine."
They're a way of life, in other words. A valued possession enabling the owner to disport himself with his friends, reach heady speeds, enjoy themselves in a comradely manner. And no one, particularly the young, ever thinks of themselves as being vulnerable, because they're always in control, they know what they're doing, while the ones that get into trouble, obviously aren't in control.
MRC des Collines police say alcohol and speed are suspected causes in the crash that killed Joe Leafloor. But he wasn't the only one this past weekend. There was 29-year old Francois Proulx of Gatineau who died after losing control of his machine, hitting a tree near Gracefield. And a 53-year-old woman was killed when she lost control of her snowmobile on a curve and hit a tree in Lotbiniere.
In the Eastern Townships that same day a 19-year-old died when his snowmobile hit a car while he was crossing Route 249. Oh, and a 52-year-old man died when his snowmobile hit a tree that had fallen on a trail in the Saguenay region. Police hand out thousands of tickets for a wide variety of safety infractions.
They have 32,662 kilometres of trails to patrol across the province.
It might seem odd to state that people are killing themselves, since all they're doing, as far as they're concerned, is having a good time. Getting out into the environment and enjoying what winter brings to Canada, lots of snow and frozen lakes to skim over. We've also got plenty of forests and trees that go dormant in winter as the landscape is blanketed deep in snow.
People also like to warm themselves up a little internally, not simply externally, by pulling on fleecies and down-filled jackets and warm winter snowmobiling boots. There's a tendency to lubricate the interior as well, and beer is usually the liquid of choice, although one might think that a hot brew would do a better job of it - warming the innards, that is.
Coffee gives a jolt of caffeine, and makes us more alert, while beer relaxes tensions and makes people more jovial in a group of happy snowmobilers. And, come to think of it, driving a snowmobile is just like driving any other motor vehicle. It requires a clear head, attention to what is transpiring ahead, and avoidance of either immovable or other movable objects like other snowmobiles, or perchance, hefty tree trunks.
If snowmobilers in their enthusiasm for their sport, driving out onto partially frozen lakes at night, and not being sufficiently aware of weak or open spots in the ice, happen to crash through the ice, why then an accident occurs often resulting in a tragic death. If that tragedy doesn't happen on a frozen lake, then it happens in a semi-forested environment where a sudden lack of control can cause a collision, ending in death.
And so it is, and so it goes. This past week five people were killed snowmobiling on winter trails in Quebec. Out on the Ottawa River with friends, Joe Leafloor, a young man with a powerful machine, and not all that much experience with it, became confused in the dark, went in the wrong direction and crashed his snowmobile. His friends tried CPR but to no avail.
His best friend, who was with him at the time, and who had enjoyed his company since childhood, lamented the loss of his friend. "He was a very positive guy to be around." The machines can be dangerous, said the friend. "Personally I've had many people I know die on snowmobile and 4-wheelers", giving him pause about their ubiquitous use as casual, recreational tools.
"The problem is when you live down here - I have a two-year-old and a three-year-old. They're going to be on them, they're going to be riding on them when they're older, whether I like it or not. When you get to be a certain age, you stop listening to mum and dad... The way the machines are built nowadays, they don't top out at 50, 60 miles an hour anymore. The average machine is a 500 CC engine."
They're a way of life, in other words. A valued possession enabling the owner to disport himself with his friends, reach heady speeds, enjoy themselves in a comradely manner. And no one, particularly the young, ever thinks of themselves as being vulnerable, because they're always in control, they know what they're doing, while the ones that get into trouble, obviously aren't in control.
MRC des Collines police say alcohol and speed are suspected causes in the crash that killed Joe Leafloor. But he wasn't the only one this past weekend. There was 29-year old Francois Proulx of Gatineau who died after losing control of his machine, hitting a tree near Gracefield. And a 53-year-old woman was killed when she lost control of her snowmobile on a curve and hit a tree in Lotbiniere.
In the Eastern Townships that same day a 19-year-old died when his snowmobile hit a car while he was crossing Route 249. Oh, and a 52-year-old man died when his snowmobile hit a tree that had fallen on a trail in the Saguenay region. Police hand out thousands of tickets for a wide variety of safety infractions.
They have 32,662 kilometres of trails to patrol across the province.
Labels: Adventure, Environment, Human Relations, Nature
posted by Pieface @ 6:22 PM
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