A mechanical inspection of the snowmobile involved in a weekend tragedy on Sylvan Lake that left a Red Deer mother dead and her daughter injured was inconclusive, said RCMP.
Sylvan Lake RCMP Sgt. Duncan Babchuk said on Monday that he and a mechanic examined the smashed snowmobile but could not point to an obvious problem, such as a stuck throttle, that could have caused the machine to speed through the staging area before hitting a parked trailer.
“We’re going to call it as inconclusive regarding the cause of that sled driving at that speed,” he said, adding he did not want to speculate on what may have happened.
“We looked over the sled and there wasn’t anything obvious.”
There are too many questions left unanswered to say driver error was to blame, he said.
Police have confirmed no alcohol was involved.
Whatever happened, occurred very quickly. Witnesses said the sled was in the staging area at the edge of the lake when they heard the loud noise of an engine with an open throttle.
“Within a matter of seconds, this thing struck the trailer,” he said.
The 41-year-old mother had been sitting behind her seven-year-old daughter. Both were wearing helmets. But a police investigation determined the mother’s helmet came off in the collision, contributing to the severity of her injuries.
Babchuk said the woman’s husband was at the lake with his wife and daughter when the accident happened shortly before 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Police initially thought the seven-year-old girl had serious injuries. She was taken to hospital but was well enough to be released later in the day to recover at home from minor injuries.
The staging area was busy with people taking advantage of the warm weather at the time of the accident. A number of people, shaken by what they saw, have spoken with victim’s services counsellors, he said.
The Calgary medical examiner’s office has not ordered an autopsy.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com