Sunday 22 January 2012

Mississippi River flows: sledding at the speed of suicide

Mississippi River, Jan 20, 2012

Of course, some yahoos go through the open water on purpose.


 Despite subzero temperatures, the rivers are still flowing into the lakes.

The incidents are piling up. Lake Mississippi sucked in an ATV and a truck!
OPP are telling people to be careful as the warm winter means many spots normally frozen are iffy now.
Down river it is apparently frozen




OPP urge caution - Variable ice dangers
Multiple open water and break-through incidents
Bubblers keep water open
A recent blast of winter has resulted in a false sense of security as many outdoor enthusiasts venture onto the ice with snowmobiles and trucks.
I don't think their mom knows
that they do this!
sledding on a lake
The fluctuations in temperatures and increased snowfalls have resulted in inconsistent and unstable ice conditions on lakes and rivers.
In the North East Region, the OPP has investigated six occurrences were snow machines have either broken through thin ice or driven into open water.
Three other snowmobile operators were killed in off-ice incidents in Gogama, Sault Ste. Marie and Burks Falls.
Collisions with stationary obstacles such as ice shacks, rock outcrops and pressure cracks see riders ejected and seriously injured or killed.
Speed and alcohol often factor in such crashes.
Riding at night increases risks of open water incidents and trail collisions as machine headlights are often overdriven.
The OPP urge snowmobile enthusiasts to continually consult the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) website’s Interactive Trail Guide and Trail Status Reports.
Ice conditions are poor in many areas, if you choose to venture out, stick to the open trails and ride with extreme caution. 


Sledding at the speed of suicide

Snowmobile Incidents 2009-10
Running totals: 86 Canadian incidents, 67 deaths, and quite a few unreported near misses


1 comment:

Kay L. Davies said...

I know people who would call these kinds of "accidents" a good way to clean up the gene pool, Jenn, and I'm tempted to agree.
People have to be incredibly stupid, incredibly drunk, or both, to take snowmobiles and trucks out on thin ice. There must be an ATV gene scientists can identify, so those people can be locked up in one of the prime minister's new prisons, at least during the winter, as a safety measure.
If they aren't falling through the ice in Canada, they are in Mexico, driving out toward the water at low tide, and wondering why the tide turns and comes back over their SUVs. My parents wintered in Baja for many years and lost count of the number of tourists they saw doing this.
I saw tourists down there who were so dumb they launched their boat without replacing the bilge plug, and wondered why they were sinking. They were lucky they were launching it from the beach, where it couldn't sink too deep.
People, eh? Takes all kinds, I guess.
K