Free Republic

DULUTH, MN (AP) -- It's been a month since Travis Kladivo last rode a kite tube. And doctors say the 20-year-old's body has almost healed. On June 25, Kladivo, whose family owns a resort on Lake Vermilion, joined a growing number of thrill-seekers seriously injured while riding a kite tube, a huge, inflatable toy designed to float in the air with a rider aboard. The day after Kladivo's accident, a 42-year-old man was killed in a kite tube accident on Little St. Germain Lake in Wisconsin. Since then, the bestselling version of the device, the Sportsstuff Inc.-brand Wego kite tube,...

TULSA, Okla. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Tulsa today announced a restriction on kite tubing on all Corps lakes in the Tulsa District. Col. Miroslav Kurka, commander of the Tulsa District, imposed the ban because of the potential for serious injuries caused by uncontrolled flight of these devices. Kite tubes are a relatively new derivative of large inner tubes towed behind speedboats that become airborne. One person died as the result of a kite tube accident this past week in Texas. Many kite tubing injuries are the direct result of the tubes reaching heights of 20...