Liable for not wearing tether

[broke'n'nuts]

This might change a few things now. Unfortunate circumstances to be sure, and what a freak accident. Wonder if machine wasn't equipped With a tether would he still be held liable

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/runaway-snomobile-accident-bc-1.4559577

 

[Chronic Cat]

Wow, talk about a freak accident for sure. If that sleigh truly did travel up to a kilometre and a half on its own wide-open throttle it's absolutely amazing that of all things to hit it hit the other guy that he was riding in the hills with.

soem parts don't add up to me though, like not hearing it coming at all, I thought it was WOT?

 

[SHREK1]

****ty deal for sure, I don't alway wear my tether but starting to more. Guess this is another reason

 

[LUCKY 7]

crappy deal for everyone. My new sled came with a tether and I didn't use it much at the beginning of the season but sure been using it lots now

 

[Lund]

Good, too bad it happened but lesson learned. Lawsuits are needed sometimes to put some brains in some people.
Tether's are not decoration as too many don't wear them. Plus i believe the industry has miserably failed to help educate and the standards are poor with only BRP truly putting public safety first.
Either way, if you bought a sled without a tether, be smart and put a tether on it and wear it, every sled should have one..BY LAW. IMO. It is the very first thing i do to all my sleds before i ride them. TETHER

 

[canuck5]

When the device is there and you choose not to use it the accountability should be there just like everything else in life, clip it to zipper on your pants and when you jump off let it dangle from yourself. Many times I've been glad the sled was shut off when getting bucked off. Also had a buddy named in a law suit years ago in a similar incident wear your tether!

 

[gibsons]

I put a nice size carabiner on the end of mine, as well as one on my handlebars. That way it's super easy to to attach while wearing gloves and helmet. The one on the bars I attach it to when done riding.
Sh!tty deal for both parties, I hope the injured fella recovers ok.

 

[meierjn]

My tether pulled the "D" ring off of my jacket last year. Motorfist repaired it for free. I now put a loop in the cord and wrap it around my right wrist. I know its not perfect, but it works. I ride a 2011 HCR and the factory tether is on there pretty good so I don't doubt it would pull the "D" ring off again.

 

[rsaruk]

I don't ride sleds but do ride an atv. Is the throttle not the same setup? I don't understand how it would continue to travel higher than an idle without the throttle being pushed.

 

[Dawizman]

I don't ride sleds but do ride an atv. Is the throttle not the same setup? I don't understand how it would continue to travel higher than an idle without the throttle being pushed.

It can get stuck wide open due to snow and ice.

 

[sledneck__11]

Skidoos are upside down alot more and when upside down throttle can stay wide open, family friend lost his arm up to elbow here in sask sled rolled ontop of him and grabbed his arm and burnt it off to the elbow coulda been prevented if he was wearing his tether

 

[Lund]

I learnt my lesson also the hard way but that was back in the 80's.
My wife was riding a Yamaha on a exceptionally cold day. We had rode powder most of the day that day and nearing the end of the day we stopped for a small break. about 15min later fired up to head out and the sled she was riding once it fired up took off like a bat out of hell. All we could do is watch and we lost sight of it. When i caught up to it, it had traveled nearly a kilometer missing tree's and everything in its path, in some places the track it left in the snow disappeared to reappeared nearly 50ft farther...LOL
It came to a stop in a huge burn pile from the logging operation that was left behind. It was still running wedge in there and the track was spinning away.
No one got hurt and no damage to the sled but i learnt a couple of things that day.

FYI. ghost riding sled's are F'n FAST, faster then you think LOL.

 

[armascott]

Really crappy situation for sure, I do not start my sled anywhere without the tether attached. Not even to load / unload etc, seen too many pictures and heard too many bad stories not to use it.

 

[moyiesledhead]

All my sleds have tethers and they always get used. Even my old '71 John Deere I use in vintage rides has a tether. Should be required of the manufacturers by law IMHO.

 

[Pistonbroke]

Really crappy situation for sure, I do not start my sled anywhere without the tether attached. Not even to load / unload etc, seen too many pictures and heard too many bad stories not to use it.

The load/unload is probably the MOST important place to tether up!

 

[SnowJunkie82]

I will start by saying this a crappy deal for the person injured and yes if his friend had been wearing his tether this could have been avoided, but what kind of friend sues another friend in a situation like this. I am sure there are details we are missing on what happened and how everything unfolded. However, everything we do in life involves some level of risk and in this case where there was no malicious intent, just a sh**ty set of circumstances with a terrible end, wouldn’t one think friends and family would rally around the injured and make sure he and his family were taken care of.

I’m sure I will get blasted and told how nieve I am for holding this view, but I would hope if I was injured by one my friends I would see him/her at my place helping out not sitting across the court room from me.

Fire away!

 

[gunner3006]

1500 meters. He’s right. This story is unbelievable. Don’t think they are real friends either. Wow. This story has all kinds of angles.

 

[firstdoo]

My guess is the injuries sustained were life altering. Possibly not being able to work for a very long time. Suing may have been the only option he had to be able to put food on his table at the time and in the future. I do carry my own insurance that would cover me from injury if something like that happened, but if I was unable to go back to my current occupation for say 4-5 years the insurance would not allow me to continue my families current lifestyle.

Its sounds like it was a really ****ty situation that I hope we never have to hear about again.

I will start by saying this a crappy deal for the person injured and yes if his friend had been wearing his tether this could have been avoided, but what kind of friend sues another friend in a situation like this. I am sure there are details we are missing on what happened and how everything unfolded. However, everything we do in life involves some level of risk and in this case where there was no malicious intent, just a sh**ty set of circumstances with a terrible end, wouldn’t one think friends and family would rally around the injured and make sure he and his family were taken care of.

I’m sure I will get blasted and told how nieve I am for holding this view, but I would hope if I was injured by one my friends I would see him/her at my place helping out not sitting across the court room from me.

Fire away!

 

[Mike270412]

The load/unload is probably the MOST important place to tether up!

Sounds like experience talking. LMFAO