Follow safety rules when snowmobiling

This is the time of year when the temptation to ride a motorized sled across a frozen surface becomes too great to fight.

Snowmobilers see days and weeks of temperatures in teens and bitter wind chills and surmise that the ice formed on a river or lake is solid and thick - strong enough to support the weight of a man and his moving machine.

And, every year, Mother Nature shows us that all things frozen are not always as they appear.

The latest winter tragedy came last week when divers pulled the body of 26-year-old Gabriel Jauregui from the Fox River two days after his snowmobile apparently went through the ice near Algonquin as he was driving home from a bar.

Jauregui is the second snowmobile fatality so far in the 2008-09 season. Last year, seven people died in 66 accidents, up from three in 19 accidents the previous year.

While the majority of snowmobile drivers are safe and follow rules, it is a sport that faces many dangers contributing to accidents and deaths. Alcohol and high speed are at the top of the list. And, combinations of speed and unfamiliar terrain may make it difficult to react to hazards, such as trees and fences.

But snowmobiling on frozen rivers and lakes, such as the Fox River and Chain O' Lakes, raises the degree of difficulty, experts say.

Both locations are popular with snowmobilers from throughout the suburbs because they offer miles and miles of unobstructed travel.

However, experts say the natural make up of these bodies of water poses unseen dangers that make ice conditions too unpredictable and unstable for safe snowmobiling.

The Chain is a constant-moving natural river system, and that continuous flow means it won't create ice think enough to support the weight of a snowmobile. There are similar concerns with the Fox River, which flows through the Chain, and never freezes solid.

Here are some safety tips from experts:

• Know the terrain and ride on marked trails.

• Snowmobiling on lakes should be limited to smaller lakes, such as Duck Lake in Ingleside or Bangs Lake in Wauconda.

• Those who insist on riding on the Chain should stay closer to shallow shorelines and avoid areas near bridges and in the middle of the lakes and river where the water is deep and current is fast, creating weak ice.

• A minimum of 7 inches of clear ice on frozen lakes is needed to ride safely. Black ice is a sign the lake is not safe to ride on.

• Never intentionally skip over patches of open water, called "puddle-jumping," for obvious reasons.

Lawmakers have taken steps to increase snowmobile safety, including making it illegal to operate a snowmobile with a blood-alcohol level of more than .08, as it is with a car or boat.

However, maybe it's time for them to address another safety issue - snowmobile speed limits.

None are in place in Illinois, even though some snowmobiles can exceed 100 mph.