Quote:
Originally Posted by NoBozo
You just brought up an off topic which got me to thinking...Are there Speed Limits for Snow Mobiles in NH..? I am guessing that most of the time, local trail "Terrain" would dictate prudent speeds. What about frozen lakes which are generally flat, excepting pressure ridges.
What I'm getting at, is there a correlation between sleds and speed limits for them, and boats and speed limits for them....and Safety. NB
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Maximum trail speed limit for snowmobiles in NH is 45 MPH.
Many sections of trails are posted lower. There are also speed restrictions when operating near ice fishermen, etc.
There is no speed limit for waterbodies, although skimming over open water is illegal. As always, there are exceptions. Back Lake in Pittsburg and Turtle Pond outside of Concord have speed limitations.
Lakes are self policing. They are not groomed, for obvious reasons. Several seasons ago a Club decided to groom a lake for a winter carnival. The groomer plunged through the ice with the driver narrowly escaping.
You can get up to significant speed on a lake if there are low or no snow conditions, and most times you need a studded track if conditions are icy.
In a normal winter you'd take you life into your hands to go flat out as tracks cross each other at wierd angles, pressure ridges can abound, some lakes always have wet or slush spots, etc.
That said there have been some horrific speed related accidents on frozen water bodies, and many people take fatal plunges by operating too fast at night and getting into open water before they can stop or change course.
As I said in my post above, snowmobiling and boating are mainly an apple and oranges comparison.
Finally there are a number of trails in the State that are flat, wide, straight and have unlimited visibility. It would be easy to soar well past the 45 MPH limit, as most modern machines can easily reach the 90+ mark. However Fish & Game has a reputation for aggresively running radar in a lot of these areas hence high speed accidents are rare.
The most common factor in accidents on sleds...most years and particularly last year?
Alcohol.
'Nuff said....