The U.S. has issued a safety warning after six high school athletes were killed over the past week.
Five high school athletes in Texas, one high school athlete in Tennessee and one in Arkansas were killed. Four of the seven deaths are tragically the result of sledding accidents.
Two female teenage high school athletes in Texas were killed when the sled they were riding on crashed into a tree. The two 16-year-old girls from Frisco, Texas were being pulled by another teenage driver, driving a Jeep. The two girls died as a result of their blunt force trauma injuries.
Elsewhere in Texas, a teenage male athlete was killed, when his sled crashed into a fence. The high school football player was also riding in a sled, being pulled by a car.
A teenage athlete in Arkansas died in a sledding crash, as well.
© Katelyn Cordero/Poughkeepsie Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Following the deadly crash, a safety warning has been issued for anyone riding in a sled, especially during a winter storm:
- Teach children to have an adult with them when they go sledding.
- Avoid sledding in areas with trees, fences and light poles or on rocky hills.
- Always go down the hill feet first.
- Have only the recommended number of passengers on a sled at one time.
- Do not sled in the street or on a highway.
- Never ride a sled being pulled by a car, ATV, snowmobile or other motorized vehicle.
- Avoid sledding on driveways, hills, or slopes that end in a street, drop off, parking lot, river or pond.
- Because they are hard to steer, the best place to use a tube is in a tubing park – often found at ski resorts.
Our thoughts are with the friends and family members of all six athletes.
May they rest in peace.