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Weekend deaths in Quebec cast light on snowmobile safety

Speed a factor in Etobicoke woman's snowmobile death: police
Speed a factor in Etobicoke woman's snowmobile death: police

A spate of snowmobile deaths in Quebec last weekend is once again calling into question the safety of one of Canada’s most popular winter pastimes.

Three people died, bringing to 27 the number of people who’ve died aboard snowmobiles in Quebec so far this season. It equals the figure for the 2012-13 season and one below the fatality total for 2010-11, according to figures compiled by the Fédération des Clubs de Motoneigistes du Québec.

Eleven of this year’s deaths happened off Quebec’s 32,000 kilometres of maintained trails and three involved alcohol, according to the federation’s figures.

Dozens of people die in snowmobile accidents in Canada every year, though precise figures are hard to come by because provinces usually lump them in with other types off off-road accidents, such as all-terrain vehicle rollovers.

But data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information suggests snowmobiling trails only skiing and snowboarding in winter activities that result in trips to the hospital. A 2012 report showed the number of hospitalizations averaged around 1,200 a year between 2006-07 and 2010-11, dropping to under a thousand for 2011-12.

The causes vary. In the West, avalanches often caused by snowmobilers’ activities are a major cause of death and injury, while elsewhere it can be speed, people falling off their machines, rollovers and collisions with other snow machines, road vehicles, trees or other obstacles.

Serge Ritcher, president of the 90,000-member Quebec federation, said a lack of snow in some areas combined with unusual cold created dangerous ice buildups on trails.


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What might be surprising to some is that if you’re an adult you don’t need to demonstrate any kind of competence on a powerful snow machine before you’re allowed to buy and drive one. Provinces generally require training courses for youth but not for adults with valid driver’s licences.

Compare that with operating a motorcycle, which requires a separate licence following a successful test, or recreational boating, which since 2009 has required a pleasure craft operator card.

Up to snowmobilers to be aware of risks and prepare

And snowmobiling advocates seem fine with that. While they promote safety awareness and training, they believe it’s up to snowmobilers to understand the risks and prepare for them. That bothers one safety expert.

“Once you have your driver’s licence, you don’t technically need any course to enable you to get on a sled and just go,” laments Michel Prud’homme, manager of traffic safety and training for the Canada Safety Council.

Prud’homme told Yahoo Canada News he believes lack of training is a major factor in many of the snowmobile fatalities each year.

“You’re looking at machines that are very powerful, so you would think the training would be something that people would look at to ensure they would properly handle the machine given any particular situation that they may get themselves into,” said Prud’homme, who conducts courses to train instructors who work for commercial operations that use snowmobiles.

Recreational snowmobiling is big business in Canada, according to the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association. Its annual economic impact in Canada is estimated at US$8 billion.

Of the 157,106 snowmobiles sold worldwide last year, 48,758 were sold in Canada, which currently has almost 600,000 registered snowmobiles in the country. Ritcher said about 180,000 are licensed in Quebec

Prud’homme said snowmobile performance has increased over the years, which puts powerful machines into the hands of riders with little or no experience.

“You’re looking at machines that can easily go 180-220 kilometres an hour,”   he said.

That’s a myth, said Dennis Burns, president of the Council of Canadian Snowmobile Organizations. High-horsepower sleds were common in the early 1970s, he said in an interview, challenging the claim increased performance has boosted the risk of accidents.

More people on snowmobiles means more deaths, injuries

The real reasons for more injuries and fatalities have to do with more people driving more kilometres, often far from help if there’s a problem.

“We’ve got to get the message out there; it’s a back-country off-roading experience,” said Burns. “It’s an incredible sport, but you’ve got to be aware that when you’re out there your cellphone may not work where you’re calling from. The trails are not engineered like a highway.”

Burns said snowmobile clubs partner with governments and other organizations to promote basic safety and even voluntary licensing courses. Programs aimed at young riders have an extra benefit in that they take the safety message home, he said.

In British Columbia, education outreach has helped cut the number of snowmobile deaths due to avalanches since the 2008 Sparwood, B.C., disaster that saw eight killed during a “high-marking” competition.

Almost 60 per cent of B.C.’s 68 snowmobile fatalities between the 2006-07 and 2011-12 seasons were caused by smothering or suffocation, according to a report by the B.C. Coroners Service.

But all the training and awareness in the world won’t eliminate accidents.

“Where there’s vehicles involved and individuals involved, things happen,” Burns said.

Quebec’s Ritcher agreed, saying training might be useful but noting Quebec’s snowmobiling sector is already highly regulated.

“I’m not sure if it’s the solution but it will be a part of the solution,” he said.