Fourth snowmobiler killed in 9 days
- The latest snowmobiler killed in an accident this week was the son of a Woodgate man who owns the White Lake Inn, a popular restaurant stop for snowmobilers in the Adirondacks, state police said Tuesday.
State police investigators said 22-year-old Craig M. Albert was killed sometime overnight after he lost control on a curve while traveling at a high rate of speed and crashed into several trees.
This is the fourth snowmobiler to be killed locally in nine days, and Albert's fatal crash occurred on the same trail in Woodgate where a New Jersey couple was killed while snowmobiling last Friday night.
In an attempt to make sense of this recent streak of tragedies, police officials and snowmobile experts have offered varying perspectives on a problem that lately has become all too troubling.
Some say speed is clearly a factor, while others say the issue is more complicated than that. Whether it's unpredictable trail conditions, driver inexperience or a lack of
trail familiarity, there's always more to the story, experts say.
Driving too fast? Albert crashed about a half-mile from where Joseph Yoroshko IV, 28, and Rebecca L. Brown, 26, both of New Jersey, were killed late Friday night when they were also traveling at a high rate of speed and lost control on a curve before crashing head-on into a tree, police said.
State police Senior Investigator Jack Graham says he has noticed an increase in fatalities that he believes is due to snowmobilers speeding.
"That should tell everybody something," Graham said. "The main factor I'm seeing in these accidents is a high rate of speed on very narrow trails. If you're going 60 to 70 mph and you're wearing a helmet, that's not going to help you if you hit something."
Graham added, "We've just got to get them to slow down somehow."
Driving beyond experience? Christine Jourdain, executive director of the American Council of Snowmobile Associations in Michigan, said "speeding" is too ambiguous of a term to characterize all accidents.
"If you're negotiating a curve, 20 to 25 mph may be faster than you should go," she said. "It's hard to say what 'driving fast' is."
Instead, the issue should also consider a driver's experience on a sled and familiarity on a trail, Jourdain said.
"It all depends on the snow conditions and the trails and where you're riding," she said. "A lot of it comes down to common sense, and unfortunately you can't manufacture common sense, nor can you legislate common sense."
On Feb. 10, an 18-year-old Utica College football player from Buffalo who wasn't wearing a helmet was killed while snowmobiling in a field in Verona due to inexperience.
Earlier in December, a 24-year-old Clayville man was also killed when his snowmobile entered the road on Oneida Street in the town of Paris and hit an oncoming car.
Too many snowmobilers? Contrary to Graham's belief, C. Lee Hinkleman Sr. - former president of the Oneida County Area Snowmobile Association and current host of the snowmobile-themed radio show "I-ROC & Beyond" - says there hasn't been an increase in fatal snowmobile accidents this season.
Instead, Hinkleman believes the number of fatal accidents only seems greater because there have been more snowmobilers converging lately in the Central New York region from all across the Northeast.
This area still has a large amount of snow, compared to Western New York and other regions, he said.
"The numbers of accidents is not a significant increase from previous years," Hinkleman said. "As a percentage, there are less accidents."
Weather a factor? With the recent ups and downs in temperature, local snowmobiles trails have gone from rainy wet and slushy to icy slick, Hinkleman noted. And that could have created particular hazardous conditions on the trails during a busy holiday weekend, he said.
"If you're riding on ice, you just need to slow down," Hinkleman said.
The latest crashes State police are still investigating whether alcohol played any role in the latest Woodgate crashes, Graham said.
It is believed Yoroshko and Brown had left the White Lake Inn before crashing, Graham said.
Albert was last seen leaving his Sears Road home in Woodgate around 10:30 p.m. Monday, Graham said. His body was found around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on Trail 7-C near Round Lake in Woodgate after he apparently lost control on a left curve at a high rate of speed, Graham said.
Albert then drove off the trail and struck several trees, which caused Albert to be thrown from the snowmobile, Graham said.
Albert's father, Brian Albert, operates the White Lake Inn. Brian Albert could not be reached Tuesday afternoon, and calls to the White Lake Inn were not answered.
Trainor Funeral Home in Boonville will be handling services for Craig Albert, but arrangements have yet to be made, officials said.
Whatever the circumstances may be, the best way to ensure a safe snowmobiling experience is for sledders to join a snowmobile club in which members ride together with people who are familiar with the trails and can help better regulate speed, Hinkleman said.
"They're going to know the trail better," Hinkleman said. "Signs have never been better on where the turns and stops are, and you're with people that know a turn is approaching or stop sign is approaching. And they know where to go and where not to go."
Observer-Dispatch