Middle -aged men in most deadly snowmobile accidents
February 9th. In a village outside Umeå is drawn a man out of a burning barn by his friend. The man must have run a snowmobile when he collided with the barn which then caught fire. Shortly before the collision, the man must have tipped off after hitting his head. He is taken to hospital.
February 12. A man is found dead next to a scooter in Boden municipality in Norrbotten County. The police suspect that this is a scooter accident. The same day but in Bjurholm municipality in Västerbotten County drive a man down into a six meter deep ravine with his scooter. He survives and taken to hospital.
February 23. A man is found dead next to a scooter in Sollefteå municipality. The police will investigate the incident and the snowmobile was seized.
This is just a selection of several serious snowmobile accidents that have recently occurred in northern Sweden. In recent years, the number of snowmobile accidents has been at a high level according to police. But Jan Lindgren, senior investigative leader at the Swedish Transport Administration and a member of the National Snowmobile Council, believes that it is difficult to look at the total.
– The figure may vary depending on how many minor accidents are reported, says Jan Lindgren.
– The most serious accidents are dropping and I think that is the most important thing.
The Swedish Transport Administration's statistics show that the number of fatal accidents increased from the 1970s to the 00s to around twelve per year. Since then, the number of fatal accidents has decreased and in recent years about seven fatal accidents have occurred each year. At the same time, the number of snowmobiles in the country has increased and today there are over 200,000. Most are in the municipalities Arjeplog, Storuman and Sorsele.
96 percent of all snowmobile accidents occur in one of the five northernmost counties and the majority occur closer to the coast or in mountain resorts. Most accidents take place during the day, on weekends, from January to April with a peak in March. Of those who are injured, the majority are men, says Jan Lindgren.
– The youngest are involved in most accidents, while middle -aged men between the ages of 44 and 64 are involved in the worst accidents.
The most common reason for a snowmobile accident is that the person has driven too fast based on the conditions around. The maximum speed for snowmobiles is 70 kilometers per hour, within a densely populated area it can be 30 kilometers per hour. Today's scooters can go up to 100 to 150 kilometers per hour on flat ground.
– Since you sit unprotected on a scooter, it is enough at a fairly low speed to make it a serious accident. Absolutely most common is that you collide with something, usually a tree or a stone, says Jan Lindgren.
How common is it that alcohol is involved?
-In the 1990s, about 67 percent of those who died in a snowmobile accident, alcohol in the blood. Today, there has been a change in the view of alcohol and snowmobile, it is a generational issue.
Less alcohol, safer scooters and driver's license are all reasons why the most serious accidents have decreased. But the work is far from clear, says Jan Lindgren.
– We hope to be able to halve the number of fatal accidents further by 2030, he says.
What is needed to reach it?
– It can be about designing the driver's license training and the importance to inform about driving technology and the importance of speed. About supervision in places and at times when many run snowmobiles, safer snowmobile trails and more.
