The Safe Riders! You Make Snowmobiling Safe campaign, initiated in 1995 by the snowmobile manufacturers in conjunction with state and provincial snowmobile associations and snowmobile government administrators, continues to serve as a foundation of snowmobile safety training related activities in North America.
This year the collateral safety materials continue to be available, free of charge. Those materials include: A Safety Brochure, the Snowmobiling Fact Book, decals, posters and the safety video segment series, the latter of which is available online. The Snowmobile Safety Week Campaign Action Manual can be found at http://www.snowmobile.org/docs/snowmobile-safety-week-manual-2020.pdf and is available to assist in organizing Snowmobile Safety Week activities.
The International Snowmobile Safety Week will be held Jan. 18-26. If you have conflicting plans during those dates but still plan on holding a Safety Week during a different time, you are always welcome and the Campaign Action Manual will help guide you and we can make available the information that you need.
The Safe Riders! program continues to highlight the main safety issues that riders need to follow while snowmobiling. The key points are all highlighted in our poster series. Hundreds of thousands of Safe Rider! Posters have been distributed through the years to the snowmobile community. The posters are used by snowmobile safety instructors who display them in the classroom and are also placed in schools throughout the snowbelt. Many are on display in warming huts and snowmobile clubhouses across North America.
The key positions presented on the posters include:
- Alcohol and Snowmobiling Don’t Mix - Don’t Drink and Ride
- Know Before You Go – Always check local ice conditions
- When Night Riding, Slow Down - Expect the unexpected
- Respect Private Property – stay on the trail
- Avalanche Awareness
- Cross Roads with Care
- Never Ride Alone – Always ride with a friend
- Stay in Control – Always ride within your limits
- Take a Safety Course
All of these key points are contained in the information supported by the Safe Riders! campaign and are used by many safety experts to ensure that snowmobilers are aware of the key issues.
The campaign continues to offer the Safe Riders! You Make Snowmobiling Safe reflective decals and the Take a Friend Snowmobiling reflective decals. These are available for placement on helmets or snowmobiles.
ISMA has a Safety Brochure that contains the key messages and safety guidelines that should be followed.
Last year ISMA announced that the Safety Campaign had 13 new separate video chapters that had been created and placed on the website for free downloading at http://www.snowmobile.org/safe-riders-videos.html. They can be viewed on YouTube or downloaded so they can be played on your computer or television. ISMA invites everyone to watch and download the video chapters. They are very effective tools for use in your clubhouse and warming hut and many organizations are now showing them prior to association meetings and functions across North America. They provide great background information and are short in duration.
If you would like to order any of the Safe Riders! collateral materials you can contact ISMA at ISMASue@aol.com and ISMA will send you a copy of the order form. Just fill it out and e-mail it back and ISMA will try to send you what you need for a safety class or to be made available for your clubhouse or warming hut. They can be displayed at local dealerships, schools, convention and visitor bureaus, etc.
If you haven’t done so, like ISMA on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoSnowmobiling.