Snowmobiling is fun, fast and one of the most popular winter sports in Canada. It is also the most deadly, with snowmobile accidents exceeding those for other pastimes, like skiing, motorcycling, and riding ATVs and personal watercraft.

This winter is turning into one of the most deadly snowmobile seasons ever. More than 70 people have been killed in snowmobile accidents and hundreds more injured. Many of those tragedies are blamed on reckless riding, with alcohol a major factor.

But now experts are raising a new concern for the snowmobile community - the safety of children.

(There) is a large number of children who are getting seriously injured and dying as a result of wintertime fun activity, says Dr. Richard Stanwick, head of the Canadian Pediatric Society's Injury Prevention Committee. He believes snowmobiles and kids are a tragic mix, especially with today's high-powered modern machines.

Laurie Elliott knows that danger all too well. A snowmobile collision killed her 16-year-old son, Adam. He had been an experienced rider who covered thousands of kilometers on his snowmobile, often alongside his father. Adam had taken a snowmobile-training course and his parents had rules about snowmobiling. When he was out with friends, he always carried a trail map and a cell phone.

If he were out close to dusk, remembers Laurie, he had to be home before dark if he were with his friends.

But even the strictest rules were not enough to protect Adam. On Nov. 3, 1999, he and his father went out for what was supposed to be a short ride.

There was no moonlight that night so it was dark, remembers Laurie.

Adam led the way with his dad Scott close behind. But less than half a kilometre from home, tragedy struck. Adam hit a fallen tree full force. He was thrown from the snowmobile and critically injured.

Scott said he didn't even see the tree himself. As he got up, he noticed that Adam's machine had stopped quite a ways beyond where the tree had landed.

Looking back on her son's death, Laurie Elliott believes contemporary snowmobiles are simply too powerful.

(These) machines just go too fast. They're too powerful. If Adam hadn't been on quite such a powerful machine and hadn't hit the tree with such a wallop and force, hindsight is a great thing, but would he have sustained such a serious head injury? I don't know and we'll always question that.

RCMP Corp. John Stevenson has investigated numerous deadly snowmobile accidents in Saskatchewan. After one, in which two teens were killed, he set out to learn more about the deadly machines.

In a series of dramatic tests, Corp. Stevenson showed that a snowmobile can out-perform the hottest police cruiser, winning a one-hundred metre drag race with ease. In acceleration tests snowmobiles were able to reach speeds in excess of 115-kilometres per hour in about six seconds.

This is why people are getting killed or injured on snowmobiles, says Corp. Stevenson. He hopes his tests will make parents think twice before letting their kids loose on these powerful machines.

Dr. Richard Stanwick believes parents are putting their children at risk when they allow them to ride and drive snowmobiles.

The statistics speak for themselves, says Dr. Stanwick. And the kids are paying the price perhaps of the parents not appreciating how serious a risk this is.



Dr. Stanwick co-authored a report for the American Academy of Pediatrics on children and snowmobiles, released last fall. Among its recommendations:

* no one under the age of six should even ride on a snowmobile;

* no one under the age of 16 drive a snowmobile;

* a graduated license system restricting young riders over the age of 16 to daytime riding only, while under parental supervision;

* zero alcohol tolerance be in effect.



A Canadian study with similar findings is expected next fall.

In addition to the power and speed of contemporary snowmobiles, alcohol is also often to blame for deadly collisions. In fact, 70 per cent of snowmobile driver deaths in Canada are alcohol related.

Thankfully, one community has offered a solution to minimizing snowmobile deaths and injuries. Sudbury's STOP program, short for Snowmobile Trail Officer Patrol, relies on police and volunteers to enforce the laws and promote safety.

The STOP officers work both inside and out teaching young snowmobilers in the classroom and patrolling the trails outdoors. When on the trails, they're checking for proper licences and permits while clamping down on speeders and those who drink and ride.

University of Alberta researcher Dr. Brian Rowe says Sudbury's STOP program offers a model of success that other communities should emulate.

We had fewer deaths over a three year period, we had fewer hospitalizations and serious injuries. This is an example of how a community solves a major injury problem.