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Snowmobile enthusiasts killed themselves in Wisconsin this winter by falling through thin ice and smashing into other snowmobiles, trees, a dock, a car, a milk truck and other objects - and most of them died while drunk.

Among the victims in crashes where alcohol was involved were a soldier home on leave from Iraq, a newlywed couple and two University of Wisconsin-Stout students.

With snow that fell early and often this season, the number of registered snowmobiles rose in Wisconsin while 23 people died on the popular machines, a drop of two from last year.

Of the 23 fatalities, 15 involved alcohol, with two cases still awaiting toxicology tests. And of those 15, all but one had more than the legal limit of 0.08, and several had twice or three times that level. One victim, a 44-year-old man who drove his snowmobile into a tree in La Crosse County in January, registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.36.

Though snowmobile fatalities are down overall, Department of Natural Resources officials point to statistics in Minnesota and Michigan, which each have more registered snowmobiles than Wisconsin but with fewer deaths. Minnesota registered 253,000 snowmobiles - compared with Wisconsin's 230,000 - and nine deaths. And in Michigan, 21 people died this winter in a state that has 392,000 snowmobile registrations.

What makes Michigan and Minnesota different from Wisconsin is that drunken snowmobile driving penalties in those two states are linked to driver's licenses, said Gary Eddy, state Department of Natural Resources snowmobile/ATV administrator. In Wisconsin, convictions of driving a snowmobile while drunk don't affect driver's licenses.

"All of them (the deaths) are heartbreaking," Eddy said Tuesday. "Most of these accidents, people are riding as a recreational activity, so it's usually a family member or friend that comes across them after the accident. It's very traumatic."

Unlike Wisconsin, Minnesota has a day and night speed limit of 50 mph, something that's been on the books for three decades. Here, snowmobilers can drive any speed during daylight hours, while the nighttime speed limit is 55 mph. However, the nighttime speed limit is in the second year of a three-year temporary rule.

Eddy would like to see it made permanent, because speed was a factor in almost three-quarters of this winter's accidents.

According to the DNR's annual snowmobile fatality report, in Oconto County last month, a 48-year-old man was driving home from a tavern when his snowmobile hit an ice heave. Though the accident report doesn't state an exact speed, the victim's snowmobile was traveling fast enough to go airborne for approximately 57 feet after hitting the ice heave. Then the victim traveled in the air about 149 feet before hitting the ice and continuing for another 150 feet on the ice. His snowmobile was found with the engine still running.

A couple was killed on New Year's Day in Douglas County when their snowmobile hit a shoreline while traveling very fast. The 20-year-old driver and his 21-year-old girlfriend both tested positive for marijuana and were drunk, the DNR report says. They died when their snowmobile went airborne and struck a dock that had been pulled onto the shore.

Two days later, three people died in a head-on collision in Vilas County. None of the victims had been drinking alcohol, but speed was a factor in their deaths, the DNR report says.

Wisconsin tried a nighttime speed limit the season after a record 39 people died on snowmobiles during the 1999-2000 winter. In the one year of the 50 mph night speed limit, fatalities dropped to 26, followed by 14 the next year, apparently because snowmobilers thought the limit was still in effect. But the temporary rule was allowed to lapse.

Then last winter, the Natural Resources Board instituted another speed limit for night - this time at 55 mph.

There's been no discussion on making the speed limit permanent after next winter.

The board "will probably wait until it gets closer to the expiration date," Eddy said. "It's been proven to us. If you go back to 2000 and track the fatality numbers, any time the dip happens that was precisely when the speed limit went into effect."

Mike Cerny, chairman of the Wisconsin Snowmobile Recreation Council, said there's widespread support among snowmobile enthusiasts to make the night speed limit permanent.

"There's always people who feel that's an infringement of their rights, but others want to feel they can be able to ride a trail at night without someone coming at them at 80 mph," Cerny said.

However, there's less consensus on linking drunken recreation vehicle convictions to driver's licenses. The snowmobile council is meeting with counterparts among ATV enthusiasts and boaters who want to see the same penalties for all recreation vehicle users. Cerny said there's not much support for linking the first OWI of a recreational vehicle to driver's licenses. He said there's some willingness to link a second snowmobile drunken-driving conviction to driver's licenses

In Michigan, a drunken snowmobile driving arrest is like a motor vehicle OWI - it counts six points against a driver's license, said Michigan DNR spokeswoman Mary Dettloff.

In Minnesota, the first snowmobile drunken-driving arrest doesn't affect a driver's license, but if someone with a snowmobile OWI drives drunk behind the wheel of their car, the snowmobile conviction can be used as a penalty enhancer, said Maj. Roger Tietz, operations support manager in the Minnesota DNR Law Enforcement Division.

"Our (fatality) numbers don't rival Wisconsin's. I think what ends up happening is there's probably more of an awareness that you can get arrested," Tietz said.