Anyone out on Upper Prior Lake today notice the late model chevy Suburban doing about 60 mph everywhere? I have never seen a vehicle travel that fast on ice before. Pretty nuts considering there was only 11″ of ice at the most. I sat inside watching out the window all day long at this kid go from one end of the lake to the other. Glad I chose to not go fishing today.
My first instinct if he was close to me would be to call the cops.
If he was far enough away I would just watch and hope his
Burban goes swimmin 
Guy was just telling me how he loved driving fast on your lakes.
But think he was here today.
25 years ago watched two kids do about 60 mph on Circle lake by Northfield, Christmas eve.They drove right into open water and drowned,kinda put a damper on the day. 
I had some kids almost hit me on a Tonka a few years ago doing well over 100mph in a black Audi TT , they hit my spud bar that was marking my tip-up 
must have been fun explaining that one to dad 
Sad to say, maybe they have a death wish ?? 
When I was a kid, at my parents’ lake place up by Park Rapids, there was a guy riding his dirt bike on the lake. Probably got up to about 55MPH, then would purposely crash into a snowbank made from people plowing a skating area. He did it over and over again, so I really hope it was on purpose..
Which brings up the question – on lakes with “open water’ speed limits – does same apply to frozen water?
I believe there is a speed limit on Prior.
Many years ago, Suzuki and I were fishing on Prior with barely walkable ice. Some guy was out there with a 3 wheeler racing all over the lake. We figured he wouldn’t last long, but maybe he somehow found a way to survive this long.
I believe you are correct. There are speed limits for sleds so I would think it applies for vehicles as well. I am not a fun hater so I would never call the police on the kid. There are always snowmobiles, atvs, and dirt bikes out there doing excessive speeds, but a full size suv was pretty nucking futs!
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Dad, I must have bumped a snow bank last night..can I get a new car? I keep an extra skimmer in my sled to use as a warning shot. On the other side of this though, I think some people try to frustrate folks that are fishing sometimes.
I think I would have called the police , not that I dont like fun, but I have see first hand what happens when the ice blows out in front of one of these dumb 
people
I find it suprising that so many people havent done this.
I’m still willing to do it and I’m old.
I have to say that since I started running on an Ambulance crew, I tend to see these things a little differently. You only have to pull one person out of a vehicle that was doing something very stupid to reevaluate the stupid things you did when you were younger.
I’d call the police, not because I gave a damn about them, but because they are a danger to other people.
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Dad, I must have bumped a snow bank last night..can I get a new car? I keep an extra skimmer in my sled to use as a warning shot. On the other side of this though, I think some people try to frustrate folks that are fishing sometimes.
dont think that one worked with this kid..lol
the spud bar was stuck in the trunk, it punched in the front end a good foot and set off the air bags, it folded the spud bar in half punching it up through the bottom of the trunk by the back bumper 
had to open the trunk to pull it out, he was also going so fast that it sucked my thermal tip-up out of the hole and down the ice 100 yards 
he’s lucky the bar didnt come up under one of the seats !!
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I’d call the police, not because I gave a damn about them, but because they are a danger to other people.
+1000
Only 60mph?? Whimps! LOL In the early stages of youth when I was fearless of death, I ran studded tires on my YZ250 and raised hell on Eagle Lake in SE WI. God forbid those ice fisherman that ventured out and started drilling holes in our plowed track in a stupid attempt to either kill us, or detour us from having fun. For someone that knows what they are doing, it’s a calculated risk and a whole lotta fun. For people that are brain-dead and doing it in the company of others enjoying the same area of ice – pure stupidity 
running a 7000+ Lbs truck at 60 MPH on 11″ of ice puts everyone at risk !!!
Hey man!,
Hold my beer,(or crack pipe) and watch this!
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running a 7000+ Lbs truck at 60 MPH on 11″ of ice puts everyone at risk !!!
He obviously didnt crash so maybe he knew what he was doing.
I would have called the cops if he was near innocent bystanders or close to me but otherwise, Free Will is as American as apple pie.
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running a 7000+ Lbs truck at 60 MPH on 11″ of ice puts everyone at risk !!!
Here is the chart from the Corp of Engineers if its just the fear factor of the 11″ of ice
I think i’m going to stick with the MN DNR’s rule of 12-15″ for a truck and drive under 20 mph . I don’t like getting cold and wet 
4″ for a 1 ton vehicle seems a little thin to me.
Man, guess I should’ve been out a long time ago on 9″ with my 7800lb duramax and tandem wheel house! Woulda been easier than the wheeler and otter 
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I think i’m going to stick with the MN DNR’s rule of 12-15″ for a truck and drive under 20 mph . I don’t like getting cold and wet
4″ for a 1 ton vehicle seems a little thin to me.
The vehicle class is the weight of the vehicle, not the payload capacity. An empty one-ton Chevy weighs 8,000 lbs, which according to the chart requires more than 8″ of ice… which is still below my safe level.
Lars
From todays Prior lake paper.
Two abandoned cars – one with its front end partially submerged – were stranded on Prior Lake Monday morning, the victims of poor judgment on the part of their drivers. Breezy Point Road resident Mary McKenna said she saw one car sitting on the lake Sunday and awoke Monday to find the second vehicle. The state Department of Natural Resources warns that ice needs to be at least 8 to 12 inches thick to support a car or a small pickup, and 12 to 15 inches for a medium-sized truck. The Prior Lake Bait and Tackle shop said it has received reports of ice as thick as 12 inches on upper and lower Prior Lake, but according to the DNR, ice is seldom the same thickness over an entire body of water. The thickness guidelines are for new, clear, solid ice, and many factors – such as depth of water under the ice, water chemistry and currents, and distribution of the load on the ice – can affect the thickness.
Read more: Prior Lake American – Cars succumb to thin ice
I fish prior all the time, and personally know that moron in the chevy. He’s unemployed during the winter, so all he does is drink and fish along with about 4 other guys out there. They really have no value of there own lives, and they’d much rather spit on you than worry about anyone’s safety. It’s pretty scary, I just keep myself away from the shacks on prior with the big orange traffic cones around them lol!(That’s what they use to mark “Their” spots). If you can close enough to them, they have cribs under every one! Can you tell I don’t like these guys?
Thanks for the lead on that story. I eagerly searched the story to find a picture of the suburban resting on the lake bottom. Turns out it was two different vehicles. These guys park cars and they go through, but the kid in mom and dads burban doesn’t? I give up. And to crappie guy above, this was on Upper prior and it was a young kid 16-18 years old. He was hanging out with the neighbors boy and they do not fish out there but I will keep an eye out for the other burban. If I see it I will be sure to drill some holes really close to it
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