Rules of the road for snowmobiles (MI, winter is almost here!

Before climbing aboard a snowmobile Up North for a drive through the countryside, remember that there are laws and rules regulating the snow machines in Michigan.

Snowmobile and travel officials also note that drivers and their passengers should dress properly and have emergency kits to help them deal with the weather and the most common mechanical problems.

Recommended but not legally required are a tool kit for minor repairs, flashlight with extra batteries and bulbs, a space-saving, heat-reflecting blanket, a first aid kit and matches, candles and fire-starters

When it comes to snowmobile laws, the first thing to remember is that every law enforcement officer in the state -- from the local sheriff and municipal police to conservation officers and state police -- can enforce them.

Just about every snowmobile owned by a Michigan resident must be registered with the Secretary of State and carry a valid registration decalaffixed to the upper front portion of the sled. Snowmobiles properly registered by nonresidents in their home states and provinces are exempt from Michigan registration.

So, too, are snowmobiles operated on lands owned or controlled by the machine's owner; used in a safety education program by a certified instructor; or operated in a "special event of limited duration ... conducted according to a prearranged schedule" under a government-issued permit.

A three-year snowmobile registration is available for $15 from the Secretary of State. Permits take effect Oct. 1 and expire on Sept. 30 of the third year after registration.

A $25 annual snowmobile trail permit is also required, regardless of where the vehicle is registered. The permits also take effect on Oct. 1. Trail permits can be purchased at the Secretary of State office at the time of registration renewal, snowmobile dealers and retailers and other businesses located near Michigan trails system.

In terms of equipment, state law requires brakes that stop the snowmobile within 40 feet from a speed of 20 mph; mufflers from which the noise does not exceed 78 decibels at 50 feet away; Department of Transportation-approved helmets on drivers and passengers; a working headlight and taillights.

Children under 12 may not drive a snowmobile other than on a parent or guardian's property unless under the supervision of a parent or guardian. In no case may the driver cross a road.

Children between 12 and 16 can drive a snowmobile under supervision from anyone 21 or older or if they have a valid snowmobile safety course certificate in their possession.

A snowmobile may be ridden on the right-of-way of a public roadway that is not a limited-access highway. It must be driven on the far right of the right-of-way, in the direction of traffic and in single file. The vehicle may go on a road or shoulder to cross a bridge or culvert after other vehicles have passed, and may cross a road if it does not interfere with traffic.

Snowmobiles may be operated on a road in a county road system that is not regularly plowed for vehicular traffic and on the right-of-way or shoulder when no right-of-way exists on a snowplowed highway in a county road system under two conditions: the road is outside municipal corporate limits and it has been marked for snowmobile use by the county road commission.

Some days you want to sled slow-w-w-ly on an obscure trail, stop, and watch bald eagles going after a last meal before the lake is frozen over 'till spring - or just watch the chickadees, finches, squirrels, rabbits, deer, and yes a HUGH elk munching the last of the frozen greens scratching through the snow.

And on other days you can't wait for the sponsored circuit hyper-fueled drag racing snow machines with wheelie bars throwing flames out tuned exhausts doing a 1/4 mile at staggering velocities that would make a Lamborghini look like VW.

They forgot the laws about DUI.

Get caught driving those while drinking and you will pay, and the same point system is applied to your driving record.

Also excessive speed is going to be enforced more. So the days of sledding wild and wicked and drunk are over with.

I'll never forget seeing the bodies of a couple of these people being picked out of the TOPS of trees by Munising after they ran off a trail that ran to the edge of a hill. Then there was the rider who got speared by other sledders while he stood by the machine fixing it.

I too have memories of high speed crazies near Munising and on Grand Island. Cept for blown pistons I'd be riding this year but won't likely get it fixed.

mc

I'll never forget seeing the bodies

There was a headline in the local paper (Montmorency County, MI) a few years back that read:

"Snowmobiler killed by parked car."

Some (now dead) nitwit flew over a 10' mound of snow on the end of a driveway and somehow it was the fault of the parked car.

4 posted on 10/23/2005 7:50:46 PM PDT by quantim (I just reek of the antithesis of liberalism. They smell me and scatter like rats.)

I quit long time ago. How fun it is riding down old RR grades as straight as an arrow..what a joke it has become.

Used to get together with several and ride the way the old trails were. Riding down the Old RR grades isnt my idea of trail riding.

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