Wausau Pilot & Review
One person is dead and two people were injured in weekend snowmobile crashes in north central Wisconsin, pushing the state’s total for snowmobile fatalities in 2022 to 12.
The fatal crash was reported Sunday in the Vilas County town of Washington. Emergency operators took a 911 call Sunday afternoon reporting an unconscious snowmobile driver on Trail 17 near marker 149. Police say the driver, who struck a metal gate and trees with his machine, was pronounced dead after being transported to a hospital.
In Lincoln County, a 53-year-old Mosinee woman received minor injuries following a snowmobile crash in the town of Scott Saturday afternoon. One day earlier, a 52-year-old New London man received non-life-threatening injuries Friday afternoon in a town of Russell crash.
No names have been released.
Three people died in snowmobile crashes one week prior, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources There were 13 fatalities in 2021.
While this weekend’s crashes are still under investigation, DNR officials are urging caution and say the overall leading causes of snowmobile fatalities are alcohol, excess speed, driver inexperience and operator error.
