melting ice ontario

Cops are once again warning dumb people not to drive on melting Ontario lakes

As the mercury climbs into the double digits across Ontario, many are out enjoying the first taste of spring. Others, however, are dangerously clinging to the final days of winter, and it's earned them a stern warning from York Regional Police.

It's safe to say that ice fishing season is over, but it looks like — as is the case every spring — one person didn't get the memo, venturing out onto thawing ice in an ATV and paying a hefty price for their mistake.

The intrepid ATV driver found themselves in a bit of a situation, as evidenced by a photo showing the vehicle half-submerged through the quickly melting ice of Lake Simcoe.

"Due to the warm weather and rapidly thawing ice, recreational vehicles should stay off of Lake Simcoe and other bodies of water," states the tweet from York Regional Police.

The ATV driver may have escaped with their life, but the vehicle itself looks like a total write-off, if it was even recovered.

Seeing a vehicle broken through a melting lake is nothing new, really, as cars seem to plunge through ice in Ontario pretty much every spring, and sometimes even in the dead of winter, a stark reminder that no ice is safe.

But when it happens to a much lighter ATV, that should be a pretty clear sign that venturing out on frozen bodies of water is particularly perilous this time of year, regardless of how small the vehicle is.

Lead photo by


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