MONTANA
About 10 o’clock one February night in 1996, Michigan tourist
Brian Musselman was snowmobiling on a groomed trail in Gallatin
National Forest near West Yellowstone, when another snowmobiler
“blasted over a 17-foot jump” and slammed into him, according to
the Great Falls Tribune.
The wreck
left Musselman with severe brain injuries, and it raised questions
about snowmobiling’s risks, and who should be responsible for
them. Ruling in January on a lawsuit filed by Musselman’s
family, U.S. District Judge Don Molloy found about $11 million of
blame to spread around; he assigned most of it to the snowmobilers,
and about $4 million to the Forest Service.
Although the
Forest Service had posted 45-mile-per-hour speed-limit signs on
portions of the 140 miles of groomed trails on the ranger district,
it should have taken more safety measures on the steep hill, the
judge said; another wreck had occurred there earlier, and it was a
well-known hazard.
Molloy’s verdict could be felt
around the West. The Forest Service has few trails with speed
limits, no intensive snowmobile management, and few snowmobile cops
to enforce regulations (HCN, 1/19/04: Can skiers and snowmobilers
coexist?). The agency could never eliminate all hazards; instead,
it may cut back trail-grooming programs — a prospect that
worries Alan Brown, a leader of the Montana Snowmobile Association.
“That could radically affect where people can go snowmobiling.”
Snowmobile groups believe that, in general, drivers
should take responsibility. The Forest Service is considering an
appeal.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Should the Forest Service be blamed for a snowmobile wreck.
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