Snowmobile crashes kill two people

A 44-year-old South Stormont man was killed Saturday when his snowmobile collided with a vehicle on County Road 2 in Ingleside.

It was the second snowmobile death in Eastern Ontario in as many days. The other was a single-vehicle crash in the Bancroft area late Friday night.

A third snowmobile collision, on Sunday afternoon in Alexandria, left a 20-year-old with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry officers with the Ontario Provincial Police were called to the scene at Ingleside just after 2 p.m. The snowmobile had gone onto the road and been struck by an eastbound vehicle, police said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver and passenger of the vehicle were uninjured, police said.

Meanwhile, OPP at Bancroft were investigating the cause of a snowmobile crash that killed a 24-year-old rider Friday.

The single-vehicle collision happened on a trail east of Silva Lake at about 9:30 p.m. The man was rushed to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

On Sunday afternoon in Alexandria, a man was injured when his snowmobile went onto County Road 43 and was struck by a vehicle. His passenger, a 20-yearold woman, was also taken to hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The driver of the vehicle was not injured.

OPP officers were called to the scene just before 3 p.m. Sunday.

Last Monday, the OPP issued a snowmobile safety warning after two weekend crashes brought total snowmobile deaths in the province this season to six. Three people died in two separate incidents last Sunday after their snowmobiles went through the ice on Georgian Bay.

The OPP warned snowmobilers to stay off frozen waterways and said police would be out watching for safety violations and impaired riders, while the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs urged riders to stay off closed federation trails.

“These latest incidents are a tragic reminder of the serious risks associated with snowmobiling on frozen waterways,” Chief Supt. Rohan Thompson, provincial commander of the OPP's Highway Safety Division, said in a news release.

“Approximately 40 per cent of OPP-investigated fatal snowmobile incidents in the last 10 years have occurred on lakes and rivers. Excessive speed, driving too fast for the conditions and alcohol (and) drugs are other top contributing factors in snowmobile deaths.

“Our data speaks loud and clear about the behaviours and unsafe riding conditions snowmobilers need to avoid to make it through the season safely.”