Tulsa Police Warn Against Dangers Of Sledding

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Tulsa Police issued a stern warning against using overpasses for winter activities like sledding. Highway and street overpasses "are extremely dangerous and should not be used for sledding," a news release announced.

Officer Leland Ashley said one of the main dangers is a collision with traffic.

"It's going to be hard for a driver to even try to stop, to avoid you," he said.  "I think the key thing is to not do it around locations where there's traffic, whether it's a neighborhood street or highway."

Citizens can be issued citations for sledding on overpasses. Ashley said if people are sledding on overpasses, such as the cloverleaf intersections at U.S. Highway 169 and 71st or 81st Street, they could be cited for trespassing for being inside the fence line.

1/30/2010 Related Story: Child Injured In Sledding Accident In Tulsa

Sledding accidents land about 20,000 children in the emergency room each year in the United States, according to a study published last year in the medical journal Pediatrics.

Of those injuries:

• Fractures account for 26%
• Collisions caused 51%
• Head injuries were involved in 34%
• Injuries are most common in children age 9 and older
• Children aged 4 and younger are more likely to be hurt in collisions with vehicles
• Sleds that rotate – like disks and tubes – are most likely to cause injuries

Accidents near a street or highway are more likely to cause traumatic head injury, the research shows.