liability

Today we were at the Glatt shopping mall, which we rarely visit because it's aaaallllll the way on the other side of town (an hour away on public transport). But. THIS MALL HAS SLIDES. Serious ones. Two go down one story each, the third goes down two full stories in one go.

Whee!

The slides are are only for kids, and they are controlled only by a self-policing red light / green light system.

To get in, you have to crawl through the little space on the left at the bottom, then up onto the first platform, then up again onto the second platform. Presumably this discourages both babies and adults from using the slide?

What freaks the American mom in me out about this isn't the kids who ignore the lights or the kids that screw around at the bottom. It's the way the kids tear back up the escalators, dodging any adults boringly just riding up, so they can get up fast and slide down again. Surely there are split lips requiring stitches at least monthly? The safety signs also warn using cheerful icons that sliding down head-first can result in death.

And that lower-left panel says that kids under 5 aren't allowed on the slides. No one checks, of course.

So, like, this would never fly in the US, right? I'm not quite sure what's different here. Is there a big difference in liability laws, so that the sentence on the sign that says "we deny all liability for accidents" somehow sticks? Or is it the fact that everyone is effectively required to carry huge amounts personal liability insurance, so if something does happen, it's figured out by claims managers and not in the courts? Or is it just that back-in-time-40-years thing again? Whatever it is, the kids love it and I, um, have an opportunity to practice my deep breathing and letting go. It's FINE that we are in a busy mall and my kid has just catapulted out of my sight. All good. Yep. No problem.