Off-road driving

Bradford L. Miner

In 1995, Richard Murray, as director of the state environmental police, called for closing a loophole in state law by punishing drunken snowmobilers as severely as drunken motorists.

Mr. Murray cited a law adopted a year earlier that made penalties for drunken boaters similar to those for drunken drivers.

“Our biggest problem involves the use of alcohol and most accidents occur at night, people going from one bar to another on snowmobiles,” he observed at the time.

The landscape hasn’t changed significantly.

Today, drunken boating resulting in a serious or fatal accident may result in fines of thousands of dollars, jail time, loss of a driver’s license and a probation period with community service.

In February, Lori Mosher, 36, of East Brookfield was killed in Wales when thrown from a snowmobile driven by her best friend, Chris J. Corriveau, 37, of Holland, whom state police charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, along with unsafe driving of a snowmobile and driving a snowmobile on a public way.

Ultimately pleading guilty to a single charge of involuntary manslaughter in Hampden Superior Court, Mr. Corriveau was sentenced to 3 years’ probation.

Now, 14 years after the former director of the state environmental police called for stiffer penalties for drunken snowmobiling, state Rep. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, has House bill 1404, before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, to accomplish his goal.

The bill co-sponsored by eight legislators would establish penalties for driving a snowmobile or other recreational vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs similar to those for boating, giving uniformity to the regulations enforced by the state environmental police.

Gerald Balchuinas of Phillipston, president of Coldbrook Snowmobile Club, said his members are staunch backers of changing the law for the new regulations.

“I’m president of the largest snowmobile club in Massachusetts and our members cover a lot of terrain. I know of many snowmobilers who like to do what are called midnight booze cruises, going from one bar to the next.

“The alcohol problem’s been worse in previous years, but this year we’ve worked closely with environmental police officer Bill Woytek, who’s gone out with us on the trails several times,” Mr. Balchuinas said.

“The prevailing attitude is, ‘So what if I get stopped? It’s only a $50 fine,’ ” the club president said, adding, “I’ve actually heard people say they’d rather take their snowmobile in the winter or ATV in the summer to a restaurant or pub to have a few drinks, because the worst-case scenario is a $50 fine, and maybe having their vehicle towed.”

In effect, what they’re saying is that the citation isn’t a big deal. It doesn’t mean loss of a driver’s license, which for many could mean loss of a job,” Mr. Balchuinas said.

“House bill 1404 is a win-win situation and Coldbrook is definitely a family-oriented snowmobile club and we’re strongly in favor of the passage of this legislation,” he said.

The club president said he was at a loss to explain why it’s taken so long to get the law changed.

Randy Toth, chairman of the legislative committee of the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts, concurs.

“You can’t drink and drive, drink and fly an airplane, drink and operate a boat, but there’s no significant penalty or deterrent against drinking and hopping on a snowmobile,” he said, stating that the vast majority of snowmobile organizations have taken a strong stand against drunken snowmobiling and want regulations as strong as those for drunken driving.

“If you operate a boat under the influence, you could lose your license, you could go to jail, you could be charged with negligent operation and manslaughter, if someone is killed as a result of impaired operation,” Mr. Toth said.

For a number of years, the Snowmobile Association of Massachusetts has filed legislation that would make drinking while snowmobiling a criminal offense, but the bill has never gotten beyond either the Judiciary or Transportation committees to which it was assigned.

The simplest way of accomplishing what needs to be done and bring parity to the regulations governing all recreational vehicles would be to amend the statute governing boating to include snowmobiling and driving off-road vehicles.

“We’ve gone that route — without success, and we’ve tried filing legislation very similar to House Bill 1404 that has language specific to snowmobiles and off-road vehicles. For whatever reason, the bill has never made it to the House or Senate floor for a vote.”

Mr. Toth said he’s heard that one stumbling block has been the concern of how the law would be enforced on private property.

“If you had 40 acres and had a snowmobile trail through your property and you got drunk and went out snowmobiling on your own land, you could be subject to arrest and prosecution. There’s some concern about having EPOs arresting people on private property for OUI offenses, where with a boat, or a plane or a vehicle, the majority of the time the operator is on public property. “In fact, the overriding concern should be the safety of those people in the winter who are snowshoeing or skiing or snowmobiling along these trails, free from fear of being hit by a drunken operator of a snowmobile,” Mr. Toth said.

“We think that if this bill ever reached the full House and Senate it would be approved, because it’s a no-brainer. And when it comes up for a hearing before the Judiciary committee you can be sure that we’ll be fighting for it,” he said.

A call to the office of state Rep. Eugene L. O’Flaherty, D-Chelsea, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was not returned.

Sgt. Merri A. Walker of the state environmental police, who is frequently called upon to investigate recreational vehicle and boating accidents, said, “I won’t comment on pending legislation or what might be. On any given day I work with the tools I have at hand. Having said that, I think uniform regulations governing all recreational vehicles make sense.”

Sgt. Walker observed that the disparities in regulations are most apparent when cases are brought to court.

“A case that’s brought to Boston Municipal Court may be viewed differently than one in Fitchburg District Court, or one of the courts in Western Mass. For the most part I think we get a better brush with a boating violation than we do with a recreational vehicle violation,” the officer said.

State Rep. Todd M. Smola, R-Palmer, a co-sponsor of House bill 1404, said, “This is not only a good piece of legislation, but something that should have been done a long time ago, especially in light of the snowmobile fatality that occurred in my district this past winter. The operator of that snowmobile was under the influence and this very instance points out that current laws do not have the teeth they need to deter people from drinking and snowmobiling.

“They need to know, much as they do if they’re drinking and driving, or drinking and operating a motorboat, that there are substantial penalties associated with those actions,” he said.

“House bill 1404 will make a difference, not only in giving the environmental police the additional enforcement tools they need, but bring uniformity to the regulations governing all recreational vehicles, closing what has been a loophole. Given that this legislation is a no-brainer, I can’t understand why it hasn’t moved forward in the past and why lawmakers would be unwilling to stiffen a penalty for someone whose actions while inebriated put the health and safety of others at risk,” Mr. Smola added.

Mr. Corriveau of Holland did not want to comment on the fatal snowmobile accident that resulted in the death of his friend Lori Mosher of East Brookfield. His lawyer, Thomas J. Ford Jr. of Sturbridge, said in an e-mail that Mr. Corriveau “remains remorseful” but declined an interview. Hampden Superior Court Judge Judd J. Carhart made “speaking to others about the danger of drinking and operating a snowmobile” a condition of Mr. Corriveau’s three-year probation.

Source: http://www.telegram.com/article/20090512/NEWS/905120412/1116

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