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The two dead were discovered Saturday morning by a passerby, but it is unclear when the accident occurred.
– It’s a problem when no one has seen anything. But a technical investigation will be conducted, says Michael Saveman, an officer for the North Police Region.
The dead are two men, about 35 and 55 years old respectively. The bodies lay next to a snowmobile that may have crashed into a large nearby rock.
The scooter has been seized for a technical investigation and the police are documenting the site, near the town of Rusksele, with the help of drones, among other things.
This winter there have been several serious snowmobile accidents.
Two teenagers were killed on January 17 at an unattended railway crossing in Söråker, on the outskirts of Timrå. The girls were riding in a sled behind a scooter when the accident occurred. It is suspected that the driver of the snowmobile, among other things, has caused the death of another person.
Several injured
In Västerbotten, in addition to the fatal accident, there were also two snowmobile accidents on Saturday in which people were so seriously injured that they required hospital care.
Police in the region, without specifically addressing the causes of the accidents, came out and asked snowmobile drivers to “stall and slow down.”
Also in December, several fatal snowmobile accidents occurred.
In Vakkakoski, north of Kiruna, a man was found dead on December 18 after his scooter cut through the ice.
A man in his 20s died on December 26 on the outskirts of Strömsund after hitting a tree with a scooter.
And in Skråckarberget, in the far north of Värmland, a woman in her 75s was injured on the last day of the year, also in connection with a scooter hitting a tree.
“Significantly less”
But the development is heading in the right direction, despite the dark headlines in recent weeks, according to Per-Olov Wikberg, coordinator of the National Snowmobile Council.
– Fatal accidents have decreased significantly since 2007-2008, he says.
That season was the deadliest snowmobile season since 1973, when the Swedish Transport Administration began keeping statistics on snowmobile accidents.
In 2009, a driver’s license was introduced as a requirement for scooters.
– Something has happened since 2009: we have significantly fewer accidents despite having more snowmobiles.
Speed and alcohol
According to Wikberg, speed is the most dangerous aspect of snowmobiles. Even if the maximum speed is 70 kilometers per hour, it can go faster than that.
A fairly typical accident is hitting a solid object like a tree or rock at high speed, according to Wikberg.
Besides speed, alcohol is also a statistically risk factor, he says.
– About 5 in 10 of those who die in snowmobile accidents have drunk, say and affirm:
– Drinking and driving snowmobiles is not allowed: this is where we see serious accidents.
Jonas Ekblom / TT
Patrik Dokk / TT
The stock of snowmobiles in Sweden is growing every year. In 2019, 10,147 new snowmobiles were registered and only 1,544 were decommissioned.
Between 2011 and 2019, the number of scooters increased from approximately 148,000 to 190,000.
In the north there are the majority of scooters. The highest number of registered scooters is found in Norrbotten County (76,855), Västerbotten County (58,261) and Jämtland County (39,976).
In the south there are fewer scooters. The first number of registered scooters is in Gotland County (243), Blekinge County (322) and Kronoberg County (750).
Tips and hints on what applies to snowmobiles can be read on the National Snowmobile Council website.
Source: National Snowmobile Council, Traffic Analysis
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