22 people died in crashes in Michigan in winter 2008-09
LAKE ANN — A snowmobiler in Benzie County apparently was driving too fast when she missed a curve and struck a tree, becoming the county’s first snowmobile death this season.
Candace Grace McDonald, 29, of the Midland County village of Sanford, died early Sunday after the Saturday evening crash. Sheriff Rory Heckman said both alcohol and speed played a role.
McDonald was riding with her father and her husband when she crashed about 8:20 p.m. Saturday on Burnt Mill Road near Hooker Road in Almira Township.
She took a curve too quickly and her sled hit a snowbank, forcing her airborne, Heckman said. McDonald and her family were riding along the road, he added, and not on a marked trail.
Deputies’ observations and witness statements led investigators to consider alcohol a factor, Undersheriff Bill Sholten said, adding that witnesses said they were aware McDonald had been drinking prior to the crash.
He did not know her blood-alcohol level.
A month of wintry weather has been a boon for snowmobiling enthusiasts, but local and state law enforcement officers say it’s important to keep safety in mind on the trails. Twenty-two people died in snowmobile accidents in Michigan during the winter of 2008-09, including seven in the northern Lower Peninsula, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
Snowmobilers always should heed the common warnings — don’t drink and drive, don’t ride too fast, follow marked trails — but it’s even more necessary when they don’t have much experience at the controls, said Dean Molnar, assistant chief for the state Department of Natural Resources’ law enforcement division.
Inexperience is cited as one of the reasons why Galion, Ohio, resident Joyce Weir lost control of the snowmobile she was operating and hit a tree last week in Crawford County.
Weir, 68, died in the Dec. 22 crash on a trail in Frederic Township after, police believe, she entered a turn too quickly. It was her first time on a snowmobile, a powerful Arctic Cat model, Sheriff Kirk Wakefield said.
Later that day, three Ohio teenagers were injured when they missed a curve on Lewiston Grade Road near Grayling. Wakefield said the girls possibly were listening to music through headphones while riding.
“People are, they’re just driving too darn fast,” he said. “Curves are the big deal. Nobody’s familiar with the trails.”
Drivers with less experience, especially young people, should take snowmobiling safety courses or become involved with local clubs to learn from advanced riders, Molnar said.
Children between the ages of 12 and 17 are not permitted to cross roads or ride without someone 21 or older unless they have a snowmobile safety certificate with them, DNR regulations state.
And although the legal blood-alcohol limit is 0.10 aboard a snowmobile, riders still could be found liable if they cause an accident after drinking, Molnar said.
Today’s machines are “very powerful, they’re very large, they’re a lot better than they were many years ago,” he said. “You still control the speed.”
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