While I get crossing the street or even just sitting in a car is more dangerous overall, I assume sledding has a higher rate of incident-per-outing than either of those activities, which is probably where the artificial lines get drawn.
From some basic research, it looks like (in the states) there were 20,000 sledding injuries in 2010, vs 60,000 pedestrian injuries. Sledding looks an extreme amount more dangerous here, considering the much higher amount of pedestrians vs sledders and the rate at which people engage in each activity.
It's not everything, but it's not nothing. I don't think every dangerous activity needs protective gear, but people should keep the rate of injury per outing in mind, not the overall number of injuries.
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