Posted on 01/04/2015 8:05:27 PM PST by BenLurkin
According to SF Gate, cities are concerned over the potential for lawsuits over sledding injuries. Therefore, many cities are opting to close hills rather than risk large liability claims from injured sledders. The latest city to ban sledding within public parks is Dubuque, Iowa. The city has decided to move forward with a plan that would ban sledding in 48 of its 50 city parks. Marie Ware, Dubuque’s leisure services manager, told SF Gate that the city can’t manage “the risk at all those places.”
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Why is it that the one thing you cannot find in an adult bookstore is a book ?
It’s the lawsuit plague, and it’s out of control.
But, if there’s a town with some dangerous parks to sled in, it’s Dubuque. Not your average Iowa town. Below, on top, and on the side of the west bluff of the Mississippi, it’s rugged, lots of steep hills and some cliffs, with plenty of trees. Most of Loras College is built into the side of that bluff, right in the middle of town.
this isn’t a story about the nanny state. It’s a story about how we need to close about half of our law schools . . . tomorrow. And then pass tort reform in all 50 states
I used to blame the greedy lawyers and wuss citizens for this, but the fault really lies with judges that allow such crap to see the light of day in a courtroom. We also need a policy where the ‘loser pays’.
With a strict Limitation of Liability clause in the Terms of Service in case you fall off the couch or strain a finger.
They can’t just put up a “sled at your own risk” sign?
Judges don’t make money with empty courtrooms. You’re right. That’s part of it.
Thanks, you’ve added some important info to this thread.
I was back at my childhood home yesterday and pointed out the hill I went down on my tricycle. Bad idea and I still remember how frightened I was and how much it hurt when I crashed. Luckily I’m a girl, because if I was a boy I think it would have hurt even more.
First, kill all the lawyers.
Nowadays, jungle gyms, teeter-totters, diving boards, and other such equipment has disappeared due to threats of lawsuits. Children can no longer ride on sleds or toboggans, and there have been some news articles about parents being threatened with arrest if they let their kids play outside without supervision. So the only thing kids can do is stay indoors and watch TV or play video games.
Meanwhile, we scratch our heads and wonder why childhood obesity has become such a problem and why such ailments as pediatric type 2 diabetes and even pediatric gout, previously unheard of, are on the rise.
My wild and crazy childhood sledding story involves an old VW Beetle hood, some quilts and a cow pasture. It was faster than we bargained for, with every terrace it went airborne. I bailed out after the first barbed wire fence. My friend, whose idea this was, stayed with it to the bitter end. Through two more barbed wire fences and crashed onto a frozen pond. The ice was thin and the pond was shallow. He waded out. Cut, bruised, soaked with clothing starting to freeze and it scared the heck out of him. That VW hood is still in there to my knowledge.
After a snowstorm, we would jump off a cliff into the snow below. Great fun! get buried up to our chests, climb out, climb up, and do it over again and again. Great memories.
Ban lawyers instead.
A little well constructed tort reform could stop much of this nonsense.
Some of my best scars are from sledding...on ice covered snow....
No more sledding?
The world has gone mad.
.
Many states, including liberal California, have statutory immunity for landowners who allow their property to be open for recreational purposes, provided they aren’t charging admission or making improvements to the proprty that increases the natural risks involved in such activities. There is no need for landowners to shut off their land.
Wish we would have been able to sled, not much in the way of hills or snow where we grew up.
We improvised— we took a float down the stairs. We did have to sneak around mom or end up with red butts
We had the “Seven Sisters” hill. Each “sister” was a larger hump as you descended. You’d get airborne by the third, and the last one (if you could stay aboard the sled) would launch you 10-15 feet in the air, to land on the river ice.
The whole hillside is condoms now. Sigh.
(NOT a typo. I refer to those filing cabinet dwellings as condoms, not condominiums.)
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