As part of Snowmobile Safety Week, underway this week, the OPP has released a ten-year data report on snowmobile fatalities.
The hope is the report will encourage snowmobilers to avoid some of the contributing factors in a majority of incidents over the past decade.
Police say they investigated 175 snowmobile fatalities over the past 10 snowmobile seasons.
Some of the most common factors in those fatalities included excessive speed, loss of control, driving too fast for the conditions and ability impaired by alcohol.
According to the report, almost half of the deaths (45 percent) involved alcohol.
Additionally, they say that around 45 percent of snowmobilers who died were traveling on frozen lakes or rivers at the time.
Police want to remind the public that no ice is safe ice.
They continue, saying that snowmobile operators should always use proper safety equipment along with the appropriate outerwear for whatever conditions they may encounter.
