Friday, February 29, 2008

Horsepower Blues

Aww yes, once again it is time for our youth to be reminded that they are not above the law. Just yesterday I was discussing with some friends when we had that same ugly reminder at the ripe ol' age of 12. I clearly remember being infuriated at the thought of losing my ski-doo to some power happy cop who had 'nothing better to do'.

Maybe it's the report of an envious parent who can't buy the best for their child...maybe it's a citizen with legitimate safety concerns to ones self or ones property. BUT maybe this should serve as a reminder to parents that it just doesn't look right when your child under the age of 16 shows up to school on a 12,000 dollar skidoo. With standard features such as enough ponies under the hood to shred snow into a ploom of dust at the nip of the throttle.

The thing to keep in mind is that this will all blow over. Nobody wants to keep our children off snowmobiles - not parents, police, or peers. Because, in the end, we all have better things to do.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really at the end of the day what we should all be most concerned with is the safety of the driver and the general public.

I have no problem with minors and snowmobiles, I grew up with them myself. But a line must be drawn somewhere, are we going let 12 year olds drive around on 130+ horsepower sleds unsupervised??? Some of these machines have more power than a lot of cars do nowadays.

In my opinion drivers under 16 should absolutely have an horsepower restriction on what they're driving. 300cc and lower has been mentioned and seems to me like a reasonable amount of horsepower for children of that age. Like most things in life theres a learning curve when it comes to snowmobiling. When you first learned to walk you didnt go out a run a 26 mile marathon did you?

Even though helmet laws aren't enforced in this province it should be common sense for a child to wear one when operating a snowmobile! A helmet has saved me many times over the years, it only takes one instant for an accident to happen and in that instant a life altering injury or even death can result.

When it comes to the safety of the public believe me it is the nature of unsupervised children to be reckless. Anybody who doesnt believe this should get their heads out of the sand and wake up. I was like it myself at that age and so were most parents.

We can sit at our computers and bitch & complain and finger point but SAFETY is what we should all be discussing.

Dew said...

I couldn't agree more Mealyman. I'm known to be bit of a horsepower junkie myself. But when it comes to young teens & preteens there should be horsepower restrictions. Safety is key...plus I would hate to have a 12 year old pass me on a race course!:P

Snowmobiling is a family sport, a mode of transportation, and here it comes down to a way of life. Keeping it that way is important.

Anonymous said...

my my how things have changed...one time we weren't allowed to go full throttle on an Elan...the saying was...that bloody little fool is going to get his neck broke...don't you know that it's a 12 horsepower....I have to agree...todays machines are real killers and some restrictions are called for.