Snowy winter slopes traditionally means sledding and tobogganing – but cities across North America are banning these activities in an effort to manage risk exposures.
Dubuque, Iowa, is set to ban toboggans in nearly all its 50 parks. Other cities, including Des Moines, Iowa; Montville, N.J.; Lincoln, Neb.; and Columbia City, Ind., are following suit by restricting certain runs or posting signs warning people away.
“We have all kinds of parks that have hills on them,” Marie Ware, Dubuque’s leisure services manager told the Associated Press. “We can’t manage the risk at all of those places.”
Here in Canada, Hamilton, Ont. has restricted sledding for almost 15 years; while in neighbouring Toronto, a bylaw has kept children off Etobicoke’s Centennial Park Ski Hill for the past several years, deeming it too dangerous.
“From an injury prevention perspective, tobogganing turns out to be a very high risk activity,” Dr. Charles Tator, a member of the board at Parachute Canada, an injury-prevention charity, told the National Post. Dr. Tator vividly remembers the case of a woman in her 20s who was permanently injured in a toboggan ride with her kids, leaving the woman in a wheelchair for life.
In contrast, cities like Ottawa and Calgary still allow tobogganing, going so far as to offer tips on the best hills, but also offering advice on how to stay safe.
But the exposure and cost of a tobogganing accident for a municipality can be staggering.
The city of Hamilton was ordered to pay lawyer Bruno Uggenti $900,000 after he injured his spine on a toboggan run in 2013 — despite the city’s tobogganing ban.
That same year, Samantha Giese filed a $900,000 lawsuit against the city of Edmonton, Alta., claiming she was injured when her sled collided with a ski jump.
In the U.S., the legal settlements are even larger. (continued.)
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The family of a 5-year-old girl who was paralyzed in Omaha, Neb., was awarded a $2-million judgement; while a $2.75-million payment was given to a man who injured his spinal cord in Sioux City, Iowa.
A 2008 book written by Dr. Tator, Catastrophic Injuries in Sport and Recreation, found tobogganing was the fourth most risky sport for serious injuries, behind diving, snowmobiling, and parachuting.
“Most people get away with it and they probably didn’t take any precautions,” he told the National Post. “But that isn’t the way it should be. Everybody should take steps to protect themselves.”
Some municipalities have taken steps to make sledding safer, by removing obstacles like trees from hills. Vaughan, Ont. reformed some of its popular sledding slopes after the tragic death of two children who wre tobogganing in one month in 2007.
Seven people have died in Canada between 2003 and 2007 related to sledding and tobogganing accidents.
