Snowmobiling Spotlight: Having fun while keeping safe on the trails

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - Tuesday night, we’re highlighting the snowy trails throughout eastern and central Maine and the people who love to ride them.

With the help of the Maine Snowmobile Association, we bring you a new segment, Snowmobiling Spotlight.

With this new snow we’re getting right now, snowmobile enthusiasts are most likely already planning their next excursion.

Connor Magliozzi spoke with officials and experts about key safety reminders on the trails.

The Maine Snowmobile Association and Maine Warden Service wants to remind snowmobile riders of some safety tips.

When going out in a group, always make sure to be driving in a single file.

Riders should also remember to be driving on the right side of the trails.

When pulling over, don’t pull over next to a snowmobile instead, pull up behind them.

“Well, it all comes down to safety,” Warden Shannon Fish said. “Simply put, I mean, you’re sharing the trail with other people and you want to be safe. You want the other individuals to be safe.”

Always make sure that you’re going the speed limit, and that you always obey stop signs.

“We don’t want anybody to die on our trails,” Maine Snowmobile Association President Al Swett said. ”We don’t want anybody to die having fun. And that’s what snowmobiling is all about.”

“You know, if your snowmobile is unregistered, you know, that it’s subject to anything of a warning or summons. If you’re traveling intoxicated you certainly can be arrested for that,” Fish said.

Riders should also be mindful of the changing seasons.

“Snow is getting softer. People really got to take that into consideration. Maybe when they started this morning riding at seven o’clock it was 20 degrees or so. And things were iced up but now they’re into the day. There’s a whole new snow conditions. You gotta adjust yourself for driving in sloppy snow,” Swett said.

The season may be wrapping up with spring right around the corner but we’ll have a few more installments of Snowmobiling Spotlight before we pick things back up later this year.

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