Snowmobiling In Detroit...

This was mentioned in the Paint Detroit thread, and I just had an unpleasant experience with this at my mothers house...

I went over to mom's house the other week [[after the recent heavy snowstorm) to shovel the driveway. And when I got there [[in Detroit, near Balduck Park), I saw snowmobiling tracks going across her lawn and up her driveway.

I talked to the next door neighbor who said that a snowmobile had lost control going down the street, and came within 3 feet of hitting moms house. There were tracks all over, and from what the neighbor said, a pickup truck pulled up into the [[snow filled) driveway to get the snowmobile out.

I was not happy with the situation, since all the snow was firmly packed down in the driveway... but I thought... who is snowmobiling here?? Snowmobiling doesn't sound like a pursuit for Detroiters, after all it is a very expensive hobby.

Then I find out on the other thread that suburbanites are coming to Detroit for their snowmobiiling pleasure. WTF?

As EastsideAl mentioned on another thread, suburban police would have these folks stopped in no time... but in Detroit... with law enforcement stretched thin... folks are coming into the city [[instead of out in the boonies) for one of their favorite pursuits... and getting away with it.

Have others of you in the city been annoyed by this problem?

I saw the video and thought if I wasn't so old it would be cool as hell. Unsafe and illegal but cool

Where is the other thread that states suburbanites are snowmobiling in Detroit, I'd like to read it.

Its Michigan! You're always going to have some numbskull snowmobiling who don't know what they are doing. Yes there are people in Detroit that have snowmobiles, not everyone is broke and even some of the low income folks up north have snow mobiles.

The following video has been making the rounds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW6A5gmlKlQ

You can still see some of their tracks on the berm between the riverwalk and Civic Center Dr.

I didn't see any carbide scrapes on the riverwalk.

However, there is a bunch of frost heaving is particularly bad on the walk this year.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RO_Resident

The following video has been making the rounds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW6A5gmlKlQ

You can still see some of their tracks on the berm between the riverwalk and Civic Center Dr.

I didn't see any carbide scrapes on the riverwalk.

However, there is a bunch of frost heaving is particularly bad on the walk this year.

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What a bunch of morons.

I have a place in Northern Michigan. Where there are designated snowmobile trails crossing the pavement you can tell because they have a distinct wearing pattern.

That is totally nuts... The only time I saw snowmobiles on Montreal city streets was in '71, We had a whopper of a snowstorm that lasted two days and the city was paralyzed for 3 days which doesnt happen often here because the snowclearing operations are pretty efficient. Folks would use their snowmobiles to bring people to hospitals and such.

But these guys riding downtown and on the freeway. How fast do you thing they were going?

I'm partly smiling and partly shaking my head.

Back in the day.....I could see myself riding my sled down Woodward or Jefferson in the wee hours following a huge snowstorm. But hitting the freeway? Even back then, after being fortified with Seagrams I wouldn't have done that.

I recall buzzing up and down Vandyke in Centerline & Warren in Dec. of 74 after that huge blizzard......however that day the sleds outnumbered the vehicles 10-1 at least.

How was it established that the snowmobilers live in the suburbs? Did I miss something, Gistok?

I think thats awesome. I mean come on who wouldn't love to do that!

Using snowmobiles around Lake Orion during snow was very common a few years back. I remember pulling up to the Wagon Wheel and seeing more snowmobiles than cars in the lot.

I'm in Detroit, so I do what I wanna do!!!

Who cares if I crash on your property?
I hurt my spine and suffered closed head injuries on your property.
You have home insurance? How about months of legal wrangling to free yourself from my legal suit.
You don't have home insurance? Hire a lawyer on your own dime to deal with my claim for medical injury on your property.

Did I crash into a pedestrian? Who cares?
In Detroit my neighbors, their property rights, and their expectations to the wider community don't matter.

My first post mentions that this topic was mentioned on the Paint Detroit thread by EastsideAl. On 2nd thought... that thread is getting pretty ugly...

I probably shouldn't have been presumptuous enough to blame suburbanites on this problem... maybe this is a Detroiter problem?

I had not seen that video before I started this thread.... and to go zipping thru downtown and onto the Lodge defies belief that they could do this with impunity.

Some people found this amusing... others disturbing... and according to this MyFoxDetroit webpage [[where they show the video)... it's not exactly making Detroit look good...
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news...ay-20110215-mr

I really don't care where these people came from... they almost smashed into my mothers house [[although it would have likely done them a lot more harm than the brick house)... and I decided to ask some questions about who is doing this...

I'm in Detroit, so I do what I wanna do!!!

Who cares if I crash on your property?
I hurt my spine and suffered closed head injuries on your property.
You have home insurance? How about months of legal wrangling to free yourself from my legal suit.
You don't have home insurance? Hire a lawyer on your own dime to deal with my claim for medical injury on your property.

Did I crash into a pedestrian? Who cares?
In Detroit my neighbors, their property rights, and their expectations to the wider community don't matter.

Kids will do the funniest things:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCD0TExFBg8