U.P. Breaking News Bulletin – 4-17-18 –12:15 a.m. ET
Alger County snowmobile crash sends rider to hospital; passenger shaken but not hurt
By Greg Peterson
U.P. Breaking News
Owner, News Director
906-273-2433
(Shingleton, MI) – There is lucky to be alive and there is TRULY LUCKY to be alive.
Two people on a snowmobile that crashed going very fast Monday night are truly lucky to be alive.
A snowmobiler crashed his sled Monday night while traveling about 70 miles per hour in Alger County while riding in the snowstorm that has dumped several feet of wet heavy snow.
Fortunately a female passenger on the sled was not ejected and rode it out on the snowmobile – and was not hurt but was shaken and in shock.
The accident happened about 8 p.m. ET Monday night, April 16, 2018 in Alger County near Shingleton wHere the snowmobiler and passenger were riding on a “bumpy” trail.
The man appears to have survived the high speed crash with few injuries, although first word from the scene stated he hit a tree – but thankfully for him that was not the case.
The victim is a 37-year-old man who was treated by Alger Med 2 paramedics rushed to Munising memorial Hospital by.
The sledder was wearing a helmet and “did not hit anything,” paramedics radioed to doctors in medical control at the trauma Center in Marquette, who decided it was best to take the man to the Munising hospital.
The victim “hit a bump in the trail” and “he was thrown from the sled” into the deep wet snow.
The female passenger told paramedics the male driver “was unresponsive for just a few seconds” immediately after being thrown from the sled.
The pair “extracted themselves from the trail” and sought help.
The male driver was “up and walking” after the crash and was put in a Michigan State Police vehicle to get warm. The man was “alert and oriented times four” – meaning for going 70 miles per hour during the crash the driver is in remarkably good condition.
A cervical collar was put on the man as a safety protocol and did not “suffer any extremity trauma” – so his legs and arms are relatively fine. The victim suffered a “laceration to the forehead area” and a bad black eye (left eye) with swelling down “into the cheek area.” Plus the man suffered tender “lower left back pain.”
After March 31 every year, state designated trails are not always groomed.
Here is some info from state of Michigan on snowmobiling after March 31st every year.
The trail permit enables snowmobilers to ride state-designated trails and public roads and public lands (where authorized).
It is valid for one year, which begins Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30 of the following year.
State-designated trails are open Dec. 1-March 31 and grooming occurs when there is enough snow on the ground.http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,4669,7-192-29929-32299–,00.html
Upper Peninsula Breaking News by Greg Peterson 