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A Snowmobile Instructor Shares a Life-Saving Tip A Snowmobile Instructor Shares a Life-Saving Tip

By Sarah Al-Shaikh

Grayson Betts: Dislocated my shoulder, cracked my sternum, ended up collapsing my lung, had internal bleeding, and then my brain had a pretty severe concussion.

Sarah Al-Shaikh: Grayson Betts was enjoying a New Years Eve with friends until…

Betts: I was curled up on like a stump.

Al-Shaikh: Betts took a sharp turn on his snowmobile, flew off, and hit a tree… with no helmet on. While most people were out making New Year’s Eve memories, Betts was on a hospital bed…but he doesn’t remember a thing.

Betts: It was like a year after and someone was like, ‘oh I haven’t seen you since you were in the hospital.’ I was like, ‘what do you mean?’ They were like, ‘I came to see you in the hospital.’ and that’s when I started to ask- I didn’t really think about it- I started asking the questions and there was people that came and saw me that I had full out conversations with that I have no recollection of.

Al-Shaikh: Snowmobile instructors say before riding one of these, you need one of these.

Denise Gilbert: Always wear a helmet. That’s an important thing because they think you know, they just ride around in their yard they don’t need a helmet. But we always tell them, safety. Always safety.

Al-Shaikh: Denise Gilbert has been a snowmobile instructor for seventeen years. She says speed, alcohol and riding off the snowmobile trails are the three main causes for accidents. Snowmobile safety courses aren’t mandatory for riders over 18. Gilbert says its important for everyone to get trained, but it’s harder to teach the older riders.

Gilbert: Are they gonna listen? I mean, you know, they’re adults so they’re not going to want you explaining to them telling them you know… the rules.

Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) – It’s a month into 2020, and there are already 2 reported snowmobile deaths in Central New York. Snowmobile instructors said riders always need one item with them: a helmet.

Grayson Betts was a snowmobile rider who didn’t have that one item and ended up in the hospital because of it.

In 2015, Betts was enjoying a New Year’s Eve with friends. He was riding a snowmobile home, took a sharp turn, flew off and hit a tree.

“Dislocated my shoulder, cracked my sternum, ended up collapsing my lung, had internal bleeding, and then my brain had a pretty severe concussion,” Betts said.

 

Grayson Betts lies in a hospital bed with severe injuries from his snowmobile accident.
Betts was in the hospital for 2 weeks, but he doesn’t remember because of his concussion.
© 2015 Grayson Betts

Betts said the worst part of his accident was how scared his family was.

“No one ever wants to scare their mother for starters. And she’s still like terrified about it,” Betts said.

It didn’t take long for Betts to jump back on a snowmobile, but he said now, he always jumps on with a helmet.

Snowmobile instructor, Denise Gilbert, taught several safety classes in her 17 years as an instructor. She said slow down, always wear a helmet, don’t ride on thin ice and stay on the trails.

“If you don’t know the property, you don’t know where you’re going. Don’t go there,” Gilbert said.

While her tips never change, she said snowmobiles are.  Snowmobiles are faster than ever, and she advised riders to follow the speed limit signs on snowmobile trails.

“They’ll blow through stop signs because they’re going too fast,” Gilbert said.

The New York State Parks department is holding a snowmobile safety course on Saturday, February 8th in Madison County.

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