In Seattle, everyone knows that each neighborhood has its own hill(s), so when it snows here, an overall panic takes over everyone and really for good reason. It gets DANGEROUS!
So in my neighborhood we have McGraw St. the main street that goes through my neck of the woods. It goes through the little shop area and goes up the hills on either side, exactly like a staircase (3 stairs on each side). When it snows, both hills become like ice and thus the fire department shuts them down.
Well around 10 years ago, a girl (I'm not sure how old) was sledding down the West McGraw hill and when she went to stop before the 4 way intersection that is at the bottom of the hill by turning onto a side street, she ran into a parked car. The girl died. I take it very seriously that this girl died sledding down this hill and everyone in the area knows about it.
So today when my mom and I drove to the grocery store, I was amazed to see a large number of kids sledding down the hill, and their parents either sledding with them or standing and watching them sled. As we stopped and watched, I saw that the kids only had two ways of stopping when they got near the bottom: either bailing and having to land on frozen cement and snow or being stopped by someone at the bottom, which means almost tackling the child.
Its bad enough that the parents know that a girl died doing what their kids are doing, but the sprinkles on the cupcake was when after reaching the top of the hill, I saw a mother sit in an innertube made for water, place her 4 year old daughter in her lap, and head down the hill.
I don't understand why people are so easy to just ignore something dangerous because they don't want to be the uncool parent or spoil their kids fun. There are many other streets in the neighborhood that are safe as well as a closed in park with a large hill that is perfect for sledding. Safety is not being first when it should and I know that I don't want to hear about another dead kid.
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