Government to cash in on Revy tragedy.

[jasonrev]

I was reading an article on msn and I would like to share a bit of this article.

"The B.C. government is reconsidering regulations for snowmobilers after the weekend's deadly avalanche near Revelstoke.

B.C. Tourism Minister Kevin Krueger said Monday that his ministry was looking at possible changes to new regulations announced in November 2009 that were to be phased in over the next two years.

The regulations — covering all motorized off-road riding equipment such as snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles — include new licensing and insurance requirements.

Krueger's comments came after two men were killed and more than 30 were injured when a wall of snow came down on about 200 snowmobile enthusiasts who were in the backcountry area known as Turbo Bowl for the annual Big Iron Shoot-Out snowmobile event on Saturday. "

Is is just me or is the government using this tragedy as an opportunity to "tax" us snowmobilers more. Having mandatory licensing and insurance requirements would have not prevented the tragedy in Revelstoke. If Kevin Krueger is so concerned about us snowmobilers he should work with the BCSF and come up with some solutions that would actually help keep snowmobilers safe instead of these obsurd licensing and insurance requirements.

All I can see this licensing and insurance B.S. being is counter productive to our sport and our safety. I much like many other snowmobilers are on a budget. In this "budget" we have to buy gear, gas, snowmobile parts, oil, avalanche gear and many other things. If these regulations go through that would be a chunk out of our budget. With a chunk out of a person's budget maybe a person that was saving up for a new abs or other inflatable pack can't afford it or maybe someone that is saving up for a better beacon has to put it on the back burner for another year. In my humble opinion beacons, shovels, probes and packs will go a lot further in saving snowmobiler's lives than a stupid piece of plastic stating I completed a test to ride my machine.

I feel us snowmobilers have to band together and let our government know that these licensing and insurance regulations are not going to help but hinder snowmobiler safety. These regulations are not for snowmobiler safety, they are just another "tax". I feel disgusted that the goverment used the Revelstoke tragedy to justify there new "tax". I hope Kevin Krueger can sleep well tonight.

 

[sledslut]

i think its BS as well. and i would support you in any way shape of forum to go at the government to prove a valid point.

 

[Steve D]

The sad part is, I'm willing to bet that 5 years ago this would have been a lot worse because awareness and preparedness is better now than ever, and that was done on our own. I can guarantee that holding a plastic card would not prevent what happened last weekend.

I can see them justifying it as a money grab to pay for "S&R" and "medical" expenses and I can't think of an argument against that excuse. With one exception: I figure Ski and Snowboarders should pay the same license then too.

 

[Polarblu]

This has been a long time coming in my opinion. We as sledders have to figure out a way to pay for the heli-vacs!! The cost of rescuing us should not be part of normal peoples taxes!! We put ourselves at risk, not the school teacher down the road who warms up before golfing and struggles with a mortgage!!
We as mountain sledder push the limits because it makes us tick, i cant live without it, but my nieghbors are paying for the rescue missions to save my friends lives, why? If you can afford this sport then you can afford to pony up some dough to pay for a chopper to save your buddies or your life!!
If you have to save up for a beacon take up a different sport this ones out of your means!!
And that goes double for extreme river boating!! I hate hearing about a rescue for those guys cause i cant afford one yet!!!

 

[meierjn]

In Alberta insurance and registration is required isn't it? It is well worth it if you are involven in any type of incident involving others or yourself for that matter!

 

[Thunderr]

I personally feel that if we have to start paying for rescues there will be more deaths caused by this than not.

Where do you draw the line? Have you ever been to the Mt 7 Pyschosis? The chopper is taking bikers off Mt 7 non stop. People have been seriously injured there. Let's not forget white water rafting...yearly there are people who die rafting...better ban it. Damn you B.C. for being so beautiful and full of enjoyment.

I myself am not happy about smokers burning up my tax dollars but the govt. seems fine with it. Can you imagine the dollars spent on that. The list is endless.

Proud and thankful to be Canadian.

Chris

This has been a long time coming in my opinion. We as sledders have to figure out a way to pay for the heli-vacs!! The cost of rescuing us should not be part of normal peoples taxes!! We put ourselves at risk, not the school teacher down the road who warms up before golfing and struggles with a mortgage!!
We as mountain sledder push the limits because it makes us tick, i cant live without it, but my nieghbors are paying for the rescue missions to save my friends lives, why? If you can afford this sport then you can afford to pony up some dough to pay for a chopper to save your buddies or your life!!
If you have to save up for a beacon take up a different sport this ones out of your means!!
And that goes double for extreme river boating!! I hate hearing about a rescue for those guys cause i cant afford one yet!!!

 

[Trax 2 Treadz]

In Alberta insurance and registration is required isn't it? It is well worth it if you are involven in any type of incident involving others or yourself for that matter!

Yes it is if you ride on public land.

 

[switchbackfst]

I was reading an article on msn and I would like to share a bit of this article.

"The B.C. government is reconsidering regulations for snowmobilers after the weekend's deadly avalanche near Revelstoke.

B.C. Tourism Minister Kevin Krueger said Monday that his ministry was looking at possible changes to new regulations announced in November 2009 that were to be phased in over the next two years.

The regulations — covering all motorized off-road riding equipment such as snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles — include new licensing and insurance requirements.

Krueger's comments came after two men were killed and more than 30 were injured when a wall of snow came down on about 200 snowmobile enthusiasts who were in the backcountry area known as Turbo Bowl for the annual Big Iron Shoot-Out snowmobile event on Saturday. "

Is is just me or is the government using this tragedy as an opportunity to "tax" us snowmobilers more. Having mandatory licensing and insurance requirements would have not prevented the tragedy in Revelstoke. If Kevin Krueger is so concerned about us snowmobilers he should work with the BCSF and come up with some solutions that would actually help keep snowmobilers safe instead of these obsurd licensing and insurance requirements.

All I can see this licensing and insurance B.S. being is counter productive to our sport and our safety. I much like many other snowmobilers are on a budget. In this "budget" we have to buy gear, gas, snowmobile parts, oil, avalanche gear and many other things. If these regulations go through that would be a chunk out of our budget. With a chunk out of a person's budget maybe a person that was saving up for a new abs or other inflatable pack can't afford it or maybe someone that is saving up for a better beacon has to put it on the back burner for another year. In my humble opinion beacons, shovels, probes and packs will go a lot further in saving snowmobiler's lives than a stupid piece of plastic stating I completed a test to ride my machine.

I feel us snowmobilers have to band together and let our government know that these licensing and insurance regulations are not going to help but hinder snowmobiler safety. These regulations are not for snowmobiler safety, they are just another "tax". I feel disgusted that the goverment used the Revelstoke tragedy to justify there new "tax". I hope Kevin Krueger can sleep well tonight.

Quickest way to stall gov activity is to have lots of voices against it. If all people do is piss and moan about it nothing will get done! Maybe we S&M people should start a online petition? There is a few thousand of us that all are in the same opinion. Then take it to your local MP/MLA. But don't stop there keep pushing. My dad is a Member of Parliment. I can talk to him and get some contact numbers if that helps? PM me if anyone has an opinion.

 

[6mile]

This has been a long time coming in my opinion. We as sledders have to figure out a way to pay for the heli-vacs!! The cost of rescuing us should not be part of normal peoples taxes!! We put ourselves at risk, not the school teacher down the road who warms up before golfing and struggles with a mortgage!!
We as mountain sledder push the limits because it makes us tick, i cant live without it, but my nieghbors are paying for the rescue missions to save my friends lives, why? If you can afford this sport then you can afford to pony up some dough to pay for a chopper to save your buddies or your life!!
If you have to save up for a beacon take up a different sport this ones out of your means!!
And that goes double for extreme river boating!! I hate hearing about a rescue for those guys cause i cant afford one yet!!!

While I partly agree with what you have said, we as snowmobiles do not need to be a burden on the tax base, but nor should any other back country explorer or hikers. How many "hikers" get caught on Mt Hood every year and require S&R to pull their butts off the hill? How many die up there? you don't really hear talks of closing down that area because someone tragically lost their life up there. Why is it we (Snowmobilers) are not viewed in the same light?

 

[Steve D]

Why doesn't the BCSF put a portion of trail fees or memberships away towards S&R?

I'd rather it be if we're such a burden on that teacher down the road, that we're also not paying for her benefit plan and pension instead.

 

[polarice]

well ive been involved in snowmobiling for a while and when we got our first machine we never licensed it ... as we rode it on our own land and wasnt allowed to go off of our property ... a couple years later when the 440 arrived we were allowed to go off the property ...us being unaware that is was illegal to do so without proper registration .... got a stern talking to and a ride home from the cops ... made us go pick it up with the truck ... and not allowed tro ride again till we had the proper registration .....i think having registration and insurance is something that all sledders should have .. what happens if you severly injure someone
scary thought you could lose everything .... here in alberta every sled needs to be licensed

it adds another 300 bucks a year to the cost of sledding for my two sleds
ive spent more than that on a weekend going sledding

 

[Summiteer]

I'd rather it be if we're such a burden on that teacher down the road, that we're also not paying for her benefit plan and pension instead.

That's just dumb.......

 

[Riverjet]

The sad part is, I'm willing to bet that 5 years ago this would have been a lot worse because awareness and preparedness is better now than ever, and that was done on our own. I can guarantee that holding a plastic card would not prevent what happened last weekend.

I can see them justifying it as a money grab to pay for "S&R" and "medical" expenses and I can't think of an argument against that excuse. With one exception: I figure Ski and Snowboarders should pay the same license then too.

If any particular user group has to pay then I say everyone has to pay. That includes granny driving her bomb to the corner store. A very dangerous excercise. If you need to be rescued then you pay. Sounds like Hitler is back in town to me.

SAR was not invented for the use of certain people only at no charge. SAR is there for the protection of everyone, always has been and should remain so.

This has been a long time coming in my opinion. We as sledders have to figure out a way to pay for the heli-vacs!! The cost of rescuing us should not be part of normal peoples taxes!! We put ourselves at risk, not the school teacher down the road who warms up before golfing and struggles with a mortgage!!
We as mountain sledder push the limits because it makes us tick, i cant live without it, but my nieghbors are paying for the rescue missions to save my friends lives, why? If you can afford this sport then you can afford to pony up some dough to pay for a chopper to save your buddies or your life!!
If you have to save up for a beacon take up a different sport this ones out of your means!!
And that goes double for extreme river boating!! I hate hearing about a rescue for those guys cause i cant afford one yet!!!

I can't afford a chopper can you? I have a jetboat. What do you consider extreme? Give us a freakin break buddy, sheesh!

If you think your friends and neighbours shouldn't have to pay for someone elses problem then I suggest no one should have to pay for theirs, whatever it may be, fire, police, ambulance. SAR fits right in there.

Trying to say that certain people should have to pay for their rescue is wrong. As part of the user group that is under attack here, (sledders) I say we need to stick together and fight for our rights as citizens to maintain the same cost to us for SAR as anyone would have to pay. Either all users of SAR pay out of their own pockets or we continue on with the norm.
People need to stop trying to split things up. You're either with us or against us. I'm sick of our gov'ts getting all my money! How about you?
Oh I forgot you have lots of money cause you can afford to ride sleds in the mountains.

 

[Riverjet]

Why doesn't the BCSF put a portion of trail fees or memberships away towards S&R?

Why? How about because it would take money from their bank account!

 

[atver]

Its about time BC sleds ,quads and dirt bikes got regestered and insuered. As a rider I have a concern about being injured by one of them and them having NO coverage. The rest of us need it why not BC. I know its an extra expense but come on, wouldn't you want the couverage if you ended up in the hospital from someone elses act. Just MY opinion.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

1st of all, SAR has made a very public stand about not charging for rescues. The main reason being, someone lost or injured calls their buddies (not wanting a bill to arrive later) for a rescue and then improper training and equipment cause many more to be put in harms way.
Last year we lost a few sledding brothers and our sport was totally slammed by the media (uninformed ambulance chasers IMO). The media frenzy will calm down as soon as the next tragic event happens elsewhere. The media for the most part are all about sensationalism. Given a little time and some other news stories this frenzy will also run out of steam.
Stories about how this would have unfolded 10+ years ago have not been aired. Successful safety stories do not sell Newspapers or TV ad spots.
Many other outdoor recreation types have jumped all over this to further their own agendas.
The best thing going forward is for all sledders to join a local club, make sure the clubs have well articulated spokespersons and try to conduct themselves as responsible citizens should.
The sledding community should be better organized and the ideas mentioned earlier as to hiring a pro lobbier to keep our interests well presented and articulated is the best thing I've heard yet.
If you think the NDP opposition would deal with this any better you should read all of Mike Farnsworths drivel on this topic.
Be safe and informed people.

 

[Mongrol]

Band together to do what? Occasionally bungee jumpers, sky divers, back country & Heli skiiers, scuba divers, etc get killed or injured in thier sports and no one is hollering about banning or regulating those sports.

Why??? Because you don't hear of members of thier respective sports pi$$ing the general public off with excessive noise and operatiing in closed or restricted area in an open and blatant manner. More regulations will be intended to forcing the "Bozos" into line but punishing all sledders in general.

If your sport is adrenalin based, it will always come under scrutiny and there will always be those that want to protect you from yourself.

Should there be extra insurance in place to cover the cost of rescue/recovery? I don't know.

 

[fnDan]

An ambulance ride in AB is only partially covered. My dad had a seizure a couple of years ago and was taken to the hospital. He received a $350 bill a month later. Up untl a few months ago it was up to the ambulance service how much you had to pay. There was an accident outside of Calgary a while ago. Each person was picked up by a different company. One had to pay $350 and the other $850. A friend of mine was injured a little over a month ago out by Corbin. The BC ambulance asked where he was from and left when they found out he was from AB. The chopper that picked him up took him to Fernie. He didn't get a bill for the chopper although he asked them.
It wasn't until I got a Spot that I even thought about the cost of being rescued. It would be interesting to see if the government would try and get some reimbursement from Spot when someone who doesn't have this coverage doesn't have to worry about it.
I've never had to use an ambulance or the fire department should I get a discount of not have to pay at all? If I prove my neighborhood is safer than another, shouldn't I pay less taxes? If we go down this road then we might as well use the US system of healthcare and everybody load up on insurance or start putting money away for trips to the doctor or hospital.
I do think that in some cases, if they can prove that a person needing SAR didn't make reasonable decisions to avoid the situation, they should have to pay. Last year someone in the states was ordered to pay for SAR when they determined that even after he injured his ankle he didn't try and turn around from his backcountry trip.
Try and add licensing and you will end up with the law abiding people that will pay and others that won't and you'll still have to rescue them.

 

[kbxsrx]

While I partly agree with what you have said, we as snowmobiles do not need to be a burden on the tax base, but nor should any other back country explorer or hikers. How many "hikers" get caught on Mt Hood every year and require S&R to pull their butts off the hill? How many die up there? you don't really hear talks of closing down that area because someone tragically lost their life up there. Why is it we (Snowmobilers) are not viewed in the same light?

Because there are not 3000 hikers on top of a mountain with extreme avalanche danger warnings, and 8 helicopters, 5 groups of SAR trying to save their collective lives.

A lone Saskatchewan rider getting buried in a ditch somewhere is not going to get the same amount of publicity as a group of them up a mountain.

Did you really ask that question?

 

[fargineyesore]

Because there are not 3000 hikers on top of a mountain with extreme avalanche danger warnings, and 8 helicopters, 5 groups of SAR trying to save their collective lives.

A lone Saskatchewan rider getting buried in a ditch somewhere is not going to get the same amount of publicity as a group of them up a mountain.

Did you really ask that question?

Just a minute here. This was one incident. Hikers, Mountain Climbers, Skiers, River Rafters, Sailboat operators, have probably used SAR one heck of a lot more
than sledders have over the years.