Thirty-six died in crashes this year, yet the Wisconsin state snowmobile association opposes tying drunken snowmobiling to a person's driver's license. Michigan and Minnesota make that link, and their snowmobiling death rate is a third of Wisconsin's.

In the 2004-05 season, Minnesota had one fatality for each 17,933 snowmobiles, Michigan had one fatality per 15,240, and Wisconsin had one fatality per 5,892.

Drastic measure? I think NOT.

I vote it should be linked!

Something has to be done to stop the deaths. And the 'linking' looks as thou it is doing some good in MI and MN.

What else could cause the lower death rates?

what i do on a sled should have nothing to do with my drivers licence this would be just as dumb of a law as the night speed limit will not help wih the deaths .poeple just have learn to ride within thier limit's we don't need anymore law's than what allready exist they don't enforce the one's we have now so makeing more would just be stupid

What if I crash my bicycle into a tree while on a state owned bike path?

How bout they let let us kill ourselfs and not worry about it, seriously i'm not worried about being the one in 5,892 people that die.

NO MORE LAWS

I am unsure why they are not linked, As you stated MI, & MN have them linked, but so does Illinois, I have been told that they require a valid drivers license in Illinois to operate a snowmobile for that reason, and some other goofy stuff about snowmobiles needing to cross roads is the other story I have heard.

From the post's I have read from Saberct69, it I am confused as to where he stands on this issue.

Sabercat? Do you like to ride drunk? Whats the deal?

I do not have any problems with them linking DWI's from a snowmobile incident to a drivers license. But that still is not addressing our high death rates. if they are stupid enough to get all pissed-up & jump on a sled, why would you think the threat of linking an offense to a drivers license be a good deterrent? try to imagine the people trying to elude from that stop and wrapping it around a tree.


Now the problem I would have about offenses being linked is if it is not strictly for DWI, We do not need some overzealous DNR lacky writing citations for everything under the sun to go screwing up a driving record or insurance ratings.

If they are linked for DWI, & DWI only! I would not have a problem with it.
But what about the people that ride snowmobiles and do not have a drivers license for whatever reason? They do not link boating offenses to a drivers license right now either in this state. But you can get a DWI on a bicycle!!

Who told you that you can get a OWI on a bike. The state staute says that it must be a motorized vehicle. NO motor no OWI.

usually just a public drunkeness ticket :banghead: !! listen to you guys, in one post you say that adding a new law is the worst thing ever, now you say yeah let's make it a new law that will not only give you a money fine but ruin your life. you disagree with a speed limit law but say that you agree with a DWI law. i now see your true colors. you guys only want the laws that work for you. you like to drive fast so a speed limit sucks. the guys that like loud sleds hate the decibal law. what are your thoughts on that law gettin2old?? over the last 2 months you have done nothing but complain about snowmobile legislation so why not that one. oh, you don't have a can on your sled. why are you not defending the sledders that do??

you can get a dui on a bicycle in Ohio.

local guy did after cop caught him driving his car, was nice took the guy home and let him off. drunk guy got on his bike and rode around. cop catches him again, drunk spits in cops face... DUI

Mud,

Loud pipes get trails closed! DUH!

Drinking & riding is absolutely stupid! another huge DUH!

The more noticable that you make yourself, relates equally to how you are noticed.
If you blend with a crowd, the less likely you are going to be singled out.

There has been a decibel law on the books for as long as I can remember,
And drinking excessively and getting on a sled is completely idiotic!! but many people are still doing it. It is exactly the reason we are getting this speed limit crammed up our asses!!! because the drunken idiots out there killing themselves and other people is what caused this speed limit legislation in the first place!!!!

I enjoy the sound of a well tuned 2-stroke sled, But it is disrespectful to the people you ride near, not everyone likes the sound of a piped 2-stroker.


I am not quite sure if you live in snowmobile country, or travel north to get to it. But more trails are lost because of loud sleds than any other reason around this area. I used to live within 150 feet of the bearskin trail in hazelhurst, and when you get loud piped sleds tear-assing past your house at 3:00 AM on a weekday in gets a little annoying for some people. So the people that own the land that lets our local clubs maintain trails on their land, start to get annoyed by loud sleds, then the trail goes away, forever and I can understand why! and we have less area to ride, and in some cases like it happened right near me last year, we lost a huge north/south thorofare in Arbor Vitae because of loud sleds. Hoards of retirees went to a town meeting to protest the trail, and the main reason was loud pipes. If these people didn't have loud sleds rattling their houses every time they passed, I am pretty sure we would still have that trail right now.

Have we lost trails because people are riding faster then 50 mph? I didn't think so.

So basically Mud, if you are riding on your own property I couldn't give a flying F$%K how loud your sled is, But since you are riding on other peoples property and the loud pipes are upsetting to them why do you want to piss these people off?
Without the use of their land, we would not have trails to ride on.

using their land is a privelage, not a right! respect the people that allow you that privelage to ride there by not polluting their land with litter or noise, and stay on the trails.

Wisconsin doesn't have a drunk in public law, if there is anything for that it would have to be a city or county ordinance. Where I live and work we have no such law.

Theres enough rules and regs as it is.We don't need more,if thirty of those idiots want to get hammered and go head to head with a tree,thats there problem.But I know they can hurt someone that hasen't been drinking,so it's a double edeged sword.Theres no easy answer,but I'm against more laws.

I also agree that there are enough rules, regulations and laws already. As Wisconsin's population continues to increase, we will see more trails close. All it takes to close a trail is a sledder with loud pipes whipping thru a residential area at 3 AM or couple of sledders racing across a farm field ignoring the clearly marked Stay On Trail signs.

We can pass all the laws we can but we cannot stop stupidity.

What can we do?

It comes down to ETHICS - what we believe is right and wrong, good and bad. We as good sledders need to adopt and adhere to a snowmobiler's Code of Ethics and enforce them on others. (Maybe we should bring back the large reflective lettering license numbers on the hoods of sleds so lawbreakers can be easily reported!) I checked the AWSC.ORG (Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs) site but I could not find a Code of Ethics. I thought they had one. If they do not have a Code of Ethics, they should and so should clubs. The DNR teaches snowmobile ethics in its education class.

Good ethics need to be taught at an early age because all the laws in the state will not stop unethical sledders. If all sledders followed good ethics, we would not need any more laws. With every law that gets passed and every trail that gets closed, we are one step closer to strangling the sport for good. If things keep going as they are now, the trail system as we know it now will cease to exist and we will be relagated to sledding in "snowmobile parks" going around in circles. None of us want that. Be an ethical rider, teach your kids right. Come down on a riding buddy when he does something wrong and tell him why.

We are all in this together!

Here is the Snowmobiler's Code of Ethics taken out of the DNR snowmobile regulations book.

Click to view attachment

The book can be viewed at:

Wisconsin DNR Snowmobile Regulations

While I am at it, here is the Basic Snowmobile Safety Code out of the Book:

Click to view attachment

In regards to #10, I like to specifically authorize myself at times. :div20:

because you don't need a drivers license to ride a snowmobile. It would be stupid if WI did this. It makes NO sense.

This poses a difficult question. Personally, I disagree with this idea, only from the standpoint that if the first step is taken, next will be speeding and other "moving violations" - its just the way WI works. Snowmobiling is an "off-road" activity and, by nature, is less structured than driving on highways. I guarantee there are rules and regulations 75% of snowmobilers don't even know exist, others that are a "judgement" call (like the "reasonable and prudent" daytime speed limit). I doubt anyone would like having a citation for something you didn't even know you did wrong showing up on your driving record. As an alternative, I'd like to see the fine for OWI/DWI increased to a VERY high level - perhaps even confiscation of the snowmobile and mandatory jail time to go along with it.

Something should defiantly be done so people think twice about drinking and riding there sled down the trail. If people are smart enough to figure out which person is the DD in their group when they go out drinking and they drive there, i think they would be smart enough to figure out that its going to be even more of a bitch to drive a sled home then a car. Why don’t these people that like to go bar hopping buy two ups, or ride nuts to butts one their buddies one man sled and let the sober person drive, your buddy can get smashed and not have to worry about it. I would rather be made fun of for getting on the back of a two up or cramming onto my buddies sled then running my own sled into a tree, another sled, or what ever else people seem to hit because im to stupid to realize i wont be able to ride it safely. Just think of the other people on the trails. I am 19 myself and i go out ridding with friends all the time, day or night it doesn’t matter. some kids that i ride with are younger then me and some are the same age as me. I shouldn’t have to be worried about someone running into me or worrying about a drunk person coming toward me. If some of you people who are against this in any little way can stomach endangering people like me, or people just out riding, then the more power to you i guess. You can take that up with the man up stairs when you get there. But there are always people against something as simple as this. Who cares if its "off road" activities, drinking and driving, or drinking and riding, how ever you wanna say it is still the same. :frech32: but who am i just another one of those young kids on here that all the "knowledgeable" adults don’t want to listen to.

Great post Indy,

I personally do not want a snow citation to show up on my DL either. But if that is what it takes to get the drunks to think twice about how stupid it is to drink & ride and being a danger to others, then so be it. But I think we are all afraid this would lead to harsher laws that could trash driving records or insurance cost's. Nobody wants that!!

The speed limit is useless in my opinion, they are not looking at the real cause of over 60% of the deaths.

(Hartford, CT-AP, May 4, 2006 6:26 AM) _ People who drive snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicle while drunk could soon face the same penalties as drunken drivers.

The House of Representatives gave final legislative approval Wednesday to a bill that would make riding a snowmobile or ATV while drunk, whether on the road or off, just as serious as driving a car while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The bill, which had already been unanimously approved by the Senate, next goes to Gov. M. Jodi Rell.