SLEDDING

SLEDDING. In 1925 in order to prevent serious accidents, the DUBUQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT banned "coasting" on many streets considered "dangerous" and announced their intention to enforce the order. The streets involved included Dodge, Bryant, South Locust, Southern Avenue, West Third, West Fifth, West Eighth, Hill, Diagonal, Windsor, Burden, Julien (Clarke Drive), Wilson, Burch, West Twelfth, West Fourteenth, Clark, West Seventeenth, West Locust, Kirkwood,, Madison, North Main, Heeb, West Twenty-Third, West Twenty-Fourth, East Twenty-Fourth, East Twenty-Ninth, Stafford, Roosevelt, West Twenty-Eighth and Shiras. The police designated other streets for coasting and closed them to traffic during designated coasting hours. (1)

On January 7, 2015 the city council voted to ban sledding in 48 of its 50 public parks. The new ordinance was put in place to protect the city from expensive lawsuits, provides for $750 fines for repeat offenses. A lawsuit in Boone, Iowa, cost that city $12 million after a woman hit a concrete block on public property and claimed negligence on the part of the city. (2)

Mayor Roy D. BUOL said the city was forced to because state lawmakers have not moved on legislation that would protect cities from what he called frivolous lawsuits. In Iowa, someone cannot sue a city if they are injured while doing activities like biking on public property. But sledding is not covered under that law and leaves cities open to lawsuits. In response to criticism, the council expanded the number of parks for sledding to five on January 20, 2015. (3)

On April 1, 2015 Gov. Terry Branstad signed a bill into law protecting cities from liability when people were injured skateboarding or biking on city property but did not include a sledding protection. This law changes the language to provide protection from injuries sustained during "recreational activities," which means sledding would be covered. (4)

In May 2015, members of the city council approved repealing a section of city ordinance that banned sledding in certain city parks. (5)

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Source:

1."Ban Coasting on Many City Streets," Telegraph Herald, December 6, 1925, p. 18. Online:https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gCRFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ULsMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5368,6895609&dq=water+department+dubuque&hl=en

2. Blanchard, Lauren. Sledding on Ice: Fear of Lawsuits Makes Dubuque Latest City to Ban Winter Rite,"http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2015/01/10/sledding-on-ice-fear-lawsuits-makes-dubuque-latest-city-to-ban-winter-rite/

3. "Dubuque Adds 3 Parks to Approved Sledding List," Online: http://www.thonline.com/news/tri-state/article_d682f449-7612-52a0-89f7-e1e5b43d5274.html

4. "Governor Signs Bill Protecting Cities From Sledding Claims," Online: http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=1185711#.VShvMRcQTsY

5. "Dubuque's Sledding Ban Officially Off the Books," Telegraph Herald, May 26, 2015, p. 3A