Why kids should never dig into plow piles, and where to build a fort instead

Why are plow piles and roadside snowbanks dangerous?

Three things make a roadside bank the worst place in the neighborhood to dig:

• It can collapse. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns of suffocation if a snow fort or tunnel caves in, which is why it says to supervise children while they build and make sure there is an opening to get out.
• Nobody driving by can see inside. A child in a tunnel is invisible from the street, from a driveway and from a plow cab.
• More snow is coming. Sterling Heights explains that its plows need speed so the snow leaves the blade, and that later passes have to throw snow up and over the bank already there. Plowed snow is heavy, and it usually includes packed snow and ice from traffic.

Why do the piles get pushed again, sometimes days later?

Road plows do not finish in one pass. The Macomb County Department of Roads (MCDR) completes state and primary roads first, considers less than four inches of snow generally drivable, and says it can take two to four days, depending on snowfall, before it schedules subdivision streets for plowing. Cities run their own schedules. So the plow that buries a snowbank fort can arrive long after the storm, when kids are already out playing. Our guide to who plows which roads explains the order.

Two other piles carry the same risk:

• The ridge at the end of the driveway. The road plow rebuilds it on every pass (here is why), and cars back over and beside it. Safe Kids Worldwide advises walking all the way around a parked car before driving off, keeping play areas away from parked or moving vehicles, and blocking off the driveway with cones or trash cans if children are playing there.
• Parking lot piles. At schools, churches and stores, the big piles at the edge of the lot are where crews push and stack the snow, so equipment keeps working right beside them through every storm. See snow removal for schools and daycares.

Is sledding into the street dangerous?

Yes, and it is avoidable. The AAP's sledding advice:

• Keep sledders away from motor vehicles and trees.
• Use slopes free of trees and fences, covered in snow rather than ice, under 30 degrees, and ending in a flat runoff.
• Supervise children under 12, and keep young children apart from teens.
• Sled feet first or sitting up, not head first, and consider a helmet.
• Use steerable sleds rather than snow disks or inner tubes.

A hill that ends at a street, a driveway or a parking lot fails the flat-runoff test. The Consumer Product Safety Commission counted about 124,700 winter sports injuries treated in emergency rooms in 2022, and 10 percent involved toboggans, sleds and snow discs.

How do kids build a snow fort safely?

Build in the open, and build low:

1. Pick the backyard, well away from the street, the driveway and anywhere a plow or car can reach.
2. Build walls, not tunnels. Low walls with no roof give kids a fort with nothing to cave in on them.
3. Keep an adult nearby, as the AAP advises, and make sure any enclosed space has an opening to get out.
4. Skip sharp tools. The AAP advises against them for fort building.
5. Dress kids in bright colors so they are easy to spot against the snow.
6. Knock down anything tall or hollow when play ends, so nobody crawls in alone later.

If you are choosing where your own shoveled snow goes, put the pile somewhere kids will not be tempted to dig; see where to pile snow at home.

Where can kids play, and where not?

What should we tell kids?

Keep the rules short enough to remember:

1. Never dig into a snowbank by a road, a driveway or a parking lot.
2. When you hear a plow, move away from the street.
3. Tunnels only with a grown-up right there.
4. Sled only where the hill ends in flat, open snow.
5. Stay off the driveway when a car is running.