A group of four individuals went out for a midnight snowmobile through a farm field off Prairietown Road early Friday morning. One of the snowmobile riders, a woman from Edwardsville, Illinois, crashed into a rut on the ground. The rut threw her off balance enough to throw her from the snowmobile onto the ground. She was rushed to Alton Memorial Hospital where she later died from a head injury. The Madison County Coroner reported that the victim did have both her headlight and helmet on at the time of the crash.
It seems like this young lady was taking the necessary precautions to protect herself during this ride by wearing her helmet and using her snowmobile’s headlight. With it being so dark out given the time of the ride, it is quite possible that the headlamp simply didn’t provide enough light for the woman to see the rut in the ground before it was too late. It is also possible that there was a malfunction with the snowmobile itself that resulted in the fatal Missouri crash. As an accident injury attorney, I handle cases involving ATV and snowmobile accidents. Although these devices don’t travel as fast as cars, the terrain is often more difficult than an average roadway and the body protection isn’t there. If an ATV or snowmobile fails in a way that creates a larger risk, the manufacturer may be subject to a lawsuit.
Madison County woman dies in snowmobile accident, stltoday.com, January 21, 2011.