# Are snowmobiles dangerous? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952 "2005-02-02T06:12:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/1 "2005-02-02T06:12:10Z")
I had a conversation tonight that basically went like this: [dude that works in ER] I saw a nasty compound fracture today - Skidoo accident. [random girl] Those are really dangerous. [dtwiER] Yeah they are. They go **really** fast! [me] Skidoos are not dangerous. [rg] Yes they are. [me] No they’re not. [rg] Yes they are. [me] Are not! [rg] Are too! [me] NOT! [rg] TOO!! [rg and me, in unison] MOOOOM! (Okay, not really.) And on and on until we started talking about how motorcycles are dangerous too, but at least they don’t fall through the ice. And then I pointed out that they would if someone were to drive it onto a lake that wasn’t safe, and that snowmobiles that are used on trails don’t fall through the ice, either. And my car can go really fast, too, but it isn’t dangerous until someone who doesn’t know/care what they’re doing drives it. And blahblahblah. Anyway, I feel dumb for arguing about something so stupid and I hope Random Girl and I are still cool, but whatever. I have to know. Are snowmobiles inherently dangerous? ---
**Author:** ![Venoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/2 "2005-02-02T06:16:01Z")
No. Mostly stupid people driving drunk on snowmobiles are dangerous - most every snowmobile related fatality in my home province had alcohol as a factor. Snowmobiles are no more dangerous than ATVs. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/3 "2005-02-02T07:41:48Z")
I used to hear stories in Wisconsin about snowmobile drivers killing themselves in various ways. Driving through barbed wire fences at high speed was my favorite. Most of the stories seemed to involve drunk townies driving at high speed through unfamiliar territory, usually other people’s private property, at night. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/4 "2005-02-02T09:47:48Z")
They’re only dangerous when they’re hungry or protecting their young. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/5 "2005-02-02T11:35:08Z")
I’d say it’s _people_ that are inherently dangerous, not their vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Farmwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8dc957/32.png) [@Farmwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmwoman)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/6 "2005-02-02T11:37:43Z")
The inherent danger seems to come from a belief that the purchase price of these vehicles includes the rights to drive them on private property. At least that’s what I told the guy who fell into the large depression created by the collapse of our old septic tank. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/7 "2005-02-02T14:38:00Z")
Depends on how you define “dangerous.” 'round here, it’s an almost weekly occurance in Jan-March that some troll\* does something dumb on a snowmobile and gets himself killed or seriously hurt as a result. \*Troll: Someone who lives below the bridge; that is, a resident of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/8 "2005-02-02T14:44:18Z")
Well, that’s kind of like asking if a knife is dangerous. I do tend to think that snowmobiles can lead people to be very crazy. We used to ride them when we were 10-12, unsupervised. That’s a lot of power for a kid so young. Some stories. . . Getting pulled behind a snowmobile in a sled, veering off the path, and being launched head-first into a wooded area. Getting pulled behind a snowmobile on skis over a jump. Riding on the back once, we started to fall through some ice in the middle of a lake. Driver gunned it and we got back onto solid stuff. In high school, drunk. . .flying across an open lake, probably going 55, and not seeing a “ridge” in the ice that lauched our two machines about 25 feet and destroyed a box we were towing. Hitting jumps intentionally and unintentionally and falling off the back as the passenger. Drunk again in high school, coming up over a ridge and slamming into a parked snowmobile and cracking its hood. A friend, drunk, went off the side of a bridge and crashed partway into a ravine. The whole aura of snowmobiles sort of encourages dangerous behavior. You’re in wide open spaces, low to the ground, it’s snow so _how bad can a crash be_, you’re drinking, you’re young, you’re all MEN. Or you’re on trails, with their own set of dangers, corners, obstacles, bridges, etc. You have macho contests like seeing who can ride the furthest up the side of some totally steep hill. A snowmobile itself is only as dangerous as you make it. . .and they seem to encourage people to make it dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/9 "2005-02-02T15:55:07Z")
I went hunting for some statistics, but quickly realized the problem with finding that kind of information: since most snowmobile accidents don’t occur on public highways, there’s no uniform reporting of the accidents. So, even if you can get some numbers, it’s pretty much impossible to compare them to accident rates for motorcycles or automobiles. The one consistent thing I noticed, however, was that alcohol is, indeed, a factor in the vast, vast majority of snowmobile fatalities (I was seeing numbers like 73%!). ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-snowmobiles-dangerous/287952/10 "2005-02-02T16:55:45Z")
I have read (and don’t remember where,) that one big category of snomo injuries is spinal compression fractures. It happens when the rider jumps over something and comes down hard. There isn’t much give between the drive track and the rider’s tailbone. I don’t have an opinion about the safety of these power sleds. I just know that exposing my face to an icy, high speed wind doesn’t sound like something I want to do. YMMV.