Q: When the roads get snowy, are snowmobiles allowed to ride on them in town?
A: Last week, when our streets were covered with a blanket of snow I saw a monster truck drive through my neighborhood. I don’t mean a jacked up pickup truck with oversize tires sticking out past the fenders a few inches, like we normally complain about. I’m talking about an actual home-built monster truck with enormous tires entirely outside the body of the vehicle. I didn’t see if it had a license plate, but this person clearly built this with no intention of ordinary road use. On other snow days I’ve seen people driving all-terrain vehicles down the street, cars towing people on sleds, and cross-country skiers gliding down the middle of the road. And you have a snowmobile zipping through your neighborhood.
It almost seems like traffic laws are suspended by snowfall. But they aren’t, at least in most situations. Each of the road users I mentioned above violated at least one traffic law. However, there are a few circumstances when it’s legal to operate a snowmobile on a public road.
At the most limited level, you’re allowed to cross a roadway on a snowmobile, with some conditions. The snowmobile operator must cross at 90 degrees to the road at a place with no obstructions, they must stop before entering the road and yield to any vehicles using the roadway, and it must be at least 100 feet from any intersection. This provision in the law is so that if you’re riding on a snowmobile trail that intersects with a public road, you can cross the roadway to continue your journey. For the snowmobile operator who wants to use make the road their travel route, there are only a few options.
Option One: When a road is completely covered with snow or ice and has been closed to motor vehicle traffic during the winter months. For example, Highway 20 in the North Cascades. Due to snowfall and avalanche danger in the winter, the Department of Transportation closes the gates for the 37 mile stretch of highway that goes over the mountains. Until DOT clears the road, snowmobiles are welcome to ride in the closed section.
Option two: When the governing body in charge of the road says it’s okay. Years ago we had a snowstorm that made many roads in the county impassable for ordinary cars. On approval from the folks in charge, the local Search and Rescue team with their snowmobiles and off-road trucks delivered critical medicines to people stuck in their homes and transported people in the community to medical facilities for life-saving treatment.
Option three: In an emergency when roads are impassable by automobile due to snow. Let’s say you’re stuck at home following a snowstorm, and while shoveling a drift from your front door you slip and fall, breaking your arm. If you’re lucky enough to have a neighbor with a snowmobile, they could transport you to meet up with an aid car, or all the way to the emergency room if the whole city is snowed in.
Option four: When traveling on a designated snowmobile trail. Many of the trails in Washington’s Sno-Parks are roads that are open to motor vehicles until wintertime, when they become groomed snowmobile trails.
It might seem fun to ride through town on a snowmobile, but if cars are still able to use the road, it’s not legal. Crashes between cars and snowmobiles are rare (because they rarely share the road), but when they do happen, the snowmobile rider is the one who loses.