There's been a spike in snowmobile accidents and fatalities this season in Central New York, and now local police are stepping up their patrols on the trails. In Oswego County, a Syracuse man was killed just last week near Redfield. The Oswego County Sheriffs Department has stepped up it's snowmobile patrols in recent weeks because so much snow has fallen and there's been quite an influx of snowmobilers coming here from throughout the state.
Meanwhile, authorities have resumed their search for two snowmobilers who are believed to have broken through the ice on one of the Finger Lakes. The Livingston County Sheriff's Office says they were alerted around 3 a.m. Sunday by a family member who said that two men in their 40s hadn't returned from a snowmobile outing on Conesus Lake.
Emergency crews found snowmobile tracks leading away from one of the snowmobiler's home on the northern end of the lake, located about 20 miles south of Rochester. Deputies say speed and alcohol are the biggest factors in fatalities. They say some snowmobiles can travel at 100 miles an hour.