Iqaluit (May 23/05) - Growing concern about the careless use of snowmobiles in Iqaluit has the city thinking about curbing their presence in residential and commercial areas.

There are "too many" snowmobiles on the roads in winter and fall, said community member Simon Sinanuk.

"Some of them don't care, some of them don't take it easy," he said.

"I don't care if they joyride outside the city," Sinanuk said, but he does not like it when people do it in town. "It's dangerous."

He recalls how some people in the past have been medevaced south after accidents, and some have even died.

Nunavut's chief coroner Tim Neily admits there has not been "an exorbitant number of Ski-Doo related deaths in Iqaluit," but as a long-term resident who has watched the city grow, he says the danger to pedestrians will only increase as more vehicles of all types hit the streets.

"There isn't a person in the city who walks that doesn't walk in fear of Ski-Doo's," Neily said.

It is a small "minority" of residents who cause problems on their snowmobiles, Neily said. Many of them are young.

According to city by-laws no driver's licence is necessary to operate a snowmobile, but the driver must be at least 14 years old.

Neily says children this young are not physically developed enough to fully control today's powerful snowmobiles.

They also have a tendency to drive late at night, a habit which has kept both Neily and Sinanuk awake at nights.

"Nobody has any problem with the hunters," Neily said. Hunters often need to drive through town on their machines to reach the sea ice.

"That's their only transportation to get some gas, and to go to the store," Sinanuk said.

Mark Hall, director of public works, says the city is not planning to interfere with people, "coming on and off the land."

The city is considering prohibiting the use of snowmobiles on city streets said Hall.

"(But) there's no specific proposal right now."

The city will consult with the public before taking any action on the issue.