Regina not hopping on toboggan ban bandwagon

REGINA – The City of Regina is not hopping on the toboggan ban bandwagon.

“There’s no discussion that the city would look at that at all,” said Mayor Michael Fougere on Tuesday.

A number of communities in North America have banned or are looking into banning the winter pastime for safety reasons and to avoid potential lawsuits.

In Canada, there were 171 hospital admissions due to tobogganing incidents in 2010-2011, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. For a comparison, there were 889 and 1,126 admissions due to ice skating and snowmobiling incidents, respectively, during the same time frame.

“Often, you go down like this and you think you’re on a clear path but, really, because of the slippery conditions you could veer off and you could hit something,” said Glenda James, executive director of the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association, in regards to tobogganing.

James recommends parents check hills thoroughly beforehand for possible dangers, such as rocks, and watch out for collisions among tobogganers.

“You can’t control everything, so wear a helmet because that’s going to mitigate it because the helmet is going to absorb the impact rather than your face or your head,” she said.

When riding a bicycle, helmets can reduce the risk of a brain injury by 88 per cent, James added.

She also recommended checking with retailers to find the proper kind of helmet for the activity.