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Feb 8, 2008 10:33 pm US/Central
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Wis. Group Tries To Add Teeth To Snowmobiling Laws
Committee Aims To Reduce Drunken Riding
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Two weeks after our colleague Randy Salerno was killed riding on the back of a snowmobile, a snowmobile safety committee is recommending the state of Wisconsin crack down on drinking and snowmobiling.
But as CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, this isn't the first time the committee tried to put some teeth into the state's snowmobile DUI laws.
The members of the Snowmobile Recreation Council met not far from where Salerno and his friends took off on their cross-country ride.
"Wisconsin is supposed to be the leader in snowmobiling," said Phil Steimel, who sits on the council. "We are the leader only in drunken snowmobiling."
Last weekend, The 2 Investigators found riders clearly overserved, returning to their snowmobiles, heading off into the night. They knew the worst that could happen if they were caught, was a fine.
The Snowmobile Recreation Council on Friday recommended putting snowmobile DUIs on driver's licenses, like they do in Michigan and Minnesota.
The group it tried eight years ago, but reportedly was thwarted by lobbyists for snowmobile clubs and taverns.
We learned that Salerno clearly went to Wisconsin to ride, not drink. A report on his death, released Friday, indicated his blood alcohol level as .035 – well below the legal limit.
But authorities say Scott Hirschey, who was driving the snowmobile at the time of the fatal crash and helped bury his lifelong friend last week, had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit.
Hirschey was hospitalized right after the funeral. He has undergone twosurgeries and is fighting an infection. His attorney says he won't attend his first court hearing Monday. Instead, he'll participate by phone.
The rest of the group has maintained it had no indication Hirschey was impaired, nor were they.
"There were four police officers on site during the whole time and if everybody had been in that kind of condition, especially Scott, I think they would have done something right then," Jim Demetrio said.
In Wisconsin, dozens die every year in alcohol-related snowmobile crashes. There was another one Thursday night. Friday's vote sought to make snowmobilers who drink and drive pay a price before others pay with their lives.
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