‘You got to be an idiot’: Reaction to snowmobilers speeding on interstate during snowstorm

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) – Police are asking the public for information to help identify people seen in video driving snowmobiles on the interstate in Kenosha County during this weekend’s snowstorm.

The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department said if the public has any information on those individuals, they should contact them.

The video was taken over the weekend on I-94/41 in Kenosha County. Newly-released video by the state Department of Transportation shows more of the snowmobilers heading in the direction of the Wisconsin-Illinois border on snow-covered lanes.

Members of the Kenosha County snowmobile community say the incident gives them a bad name.

“Anything negative doesn’t help the sport,” Arlyn Baumgarten told CBS 58. “When I first saw it I said, my God, what’s wrong with those [people], you got to be an idiot to run a snowmobile on an interstate highway.”

Baumgarten is the trail master for the Kenosha County Snowmobile Alliance.

The act is also illegal.

“It’s not a smart thing to do, people should not do that, it may look cool but please do not do that,” Cpt. Anne Maxson of the Wisconsin State Patrol told CBS 58. “Keep the snowmobiles on the trails where they belong, not on the highways.”

Driving a snowmobile on a federal motorway can land people at minimum a $200 fine and potentially criminal charges if it leads to injury, a crash or death.