Originally Posted by RawAlex

Funny enough, Car and Driver magazine this month has an article about these guys, and the reality of the situation isn't anything like the "death wish" sort of vibe discovery tries to put on it.

Very, very few drivers have died (only a couple). The trucks driver very slowly (typically 15 mph) and are about 1 to 2 miles apart. They make long s turns going off the ice onto portages to avoid cracking the ice near the shore. The driver they interviewed basically said he would take his daughter with him on the trips except she had school or something, otherwise he would take her because they aren't really all that dangerous - it's more likely to get in an accident hauling down any given interstate on a day.

As for sinking, it happens occassionally, but for the most part it is a single axel or as the image shows a "drop" but not a totally sink to the bottom. It's just the nature of the game, and all happens at very, very slow speeds.

However, Discovery is very good at making the odd but reasonable look scary and risky. More power to them!