Based on this writer's conducting of the study herein referenced; knowledge, training and experienced gained through being a snowmobiler for over 20 years; knowledge, training and experienced gained through being an accredited accident reconstruction expert in the field of scientific snowmobile accident reconstruction; knowledge, training and experience in conducting previous braking studies as well as overseeing braking studies while in the process of teaching snowmobile accident reconstruction courses to law enforcement personnel in many parts of the country; standard and commonly accepted laws of physics; standard and commonly accepted principles of scientific snowmobile accident reconstruction; the following conclusions and interpretations are drawn, and are so drawn to within a reasonable degree of scientific and professional certainty: 
 

1. That it is a regular and foreseeable part of snowmobiling in general that a snowmobile operator will from time to time encounter un-warned of and unforeseen circumstances involving ice. 

2. That a snowmobile without properly designed and installed traction studs and carbides basically has no ability to afford the operator any adequate magnitude of maintaining vehicle control on icy surfaces. 

3. That from time to time, and in the course of normal snowmobiling, operators will be confronted with rapidly changing surfaces and conditions which will result in the necessity to be able to turn on paved surfaces. Without good carbides, the skis of the snowmobile alone may not afford an adequate level of steering force in these conditions. 

4. That the use of properly designed and installed traction studs and carbides significantly enhances the ability of an operator to be able to control his snowmobile on icy or paved surfaces. This control is in the form of turning and stopping. It is certainly unsafe to ride a machine on an icy surface that does not have a reasonable balance of carbided skis and studded track, both properly designed and installed. 

5. That the usage of properly designed and installed traction studs and carbides significantly enhances the level of snowmobile safety relative to stopping and turning under the average and normal snowmobiling conditions afforded to both the snowmobile operator, his passenger, and any other traffic or pedestrians in an area effected by the operation of said snowmobile. 

6. That in this writer's opinion, the banning of properly designed and installed traction studs, under normal snowmobiling circumstances, would certainly create a question as to liability for crashes which occur that would most likely have been prevented by the enhancements afforded by these traction products in steering, stopping and general control. 

7. The best answers that can be given at this point to the questions generated at the beginning of this report are as follows:  

A. How effective are traction products? Basically, on icy surfaces, properly designed and installed traction products are extremely effective and are a significant enhancement to the overall level of snowmobile safety for all involved. 

B. Under what conditions are traction products most effective? On icy surfaces as well as paved surfaces that snowmobiles from time to time have to traverse. 

C. Does the use of traction products enhance safety? Certainly, and without question. As described above, snowmobiles are designed to be driven on the snow but in the real world, snowmobilers are frequently faced with conditions where they have to traverse icy surfaces. 

D. Should traction products be required? This question is best answered by knowing the conditions that the snowmobile will be operated in. For someone with a special application whereby they will most likely never run into icy or paved conditions, it would not be cost effective or fruitful to require this person to have traction products on the machine. It may be a good idea to investigate the feasibility of the tracks being predrilled for studs by the manufacturer so if a person does make the decision they want a studded track, they can do it relatively easily. 

E. Should traction products be banned? Certainly not. As an expert, and as the person who has conducted the above study, it is readily apparent that the banning of studded tracks and ski carbides significantly reduces the level of snowmobile safety and can certainly result in the occurrence of accidents which could otherwise be prevented. Any snowmobile operator should have the opportunity to decide on his own if he wants to use traction studs or carbides on his snowmobile. I further feel that people who purchase snowmobiles should be made aware, either through their dealer or the safety courses they take in their given jurisdictions, of the advantages, dynamics, and significant enhancements provided by properly designed and installed snowmobile traction products so they can make an informed decision as how to set their own machines up.