A sheet of ice covered Bob Conca's driveway yesterday in Andover. Even pre-salting wasn't enough to keep it cleared.
(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)
As a tour guide, Jon Ferreira walks for a living on Boston's brick and cobblestone paths, which gives him an extraordinary expertise on how to traverse the ice-slicked sidewalks that made the entire city a hazard for pedestrians yesterday.
"Aim for leaves," said Ferreira, 31, a Freedom Trail guide who negotiates treacherous sites such as the Granary Burying Ground, where salt is barred from the revolutionary paths. "Leaves are not as wet and provide the best traction."
His advice is not abstract. By noon yesterday, Boston Medical Center's emergency room had treated more than 10 serious injuries, including a 74-year-old man whose brain was bleeding after a fall. Other victims included a 28-year-old woman who broke her ankle, and a 47-year-old man who fractured his hip.
"We are not just seeing bumps and bruises," said Dr. Jonathan Olshaker, chairman of emergency medicine. "We are seeing a number of fractures that are going to require casts or operable repair."
The icy weather is expected to continue for much of the week as temperatures oscillate near freezing. A mixture of snow, sleet, and rain is forecast again this afternoon and, as Bostonians know, could continue on and off through April.
Bob Sweeney, who for six seasons played forward for the Boston Bruins, suggested traversing a slippery walkway as if it were a hockey rink.
"Bend your legs just as though you were skating," Sweeney said. "I'll tell you, it's a lot harder in dress shoes. I can remember falling on my butt a few times."
Other advice for getting around Boston in winter included walking on snow that is untrampled but not freshly fallen, looking for traction that crunches underfoot, or shunning the sidewalk for the street, where cars have opened a clear path. (Always walk facing traffic.) And, of course, wear hiking boots, use walking sticks or canes, and reach for railings.
"Some people say small steps. Some people say walk normally," said Captain Michael Mackan of Boston's Inspectional Services Department, which ticketed 57 homes and businesses yesterday that had failed to de-ice sidewalks. "It's really a no-win situation."
Eager to encourage shoveling scofflaws to change their habits, city inspectors are aggressive early in the season about enforcing the rule that property owners clean their sidewalks within three hours after storms.
Before leaving for work each day at 5:30 a.m., Mackan said, he opens the door of his Dorchester home and rubs his foot along his top stair, checking whether he needs to salt or shovel.
"If I'm giving violations for that stuff, I need to take care of my own house first," said Mackan, whose wife slipped and fell yesterday in Milton.
The Massachusetts Falls Prevention Coalition has lobbied cities and towns to adopt a minimum of a 48-inch-wide path that must be cleared on sidewalks as part of a public outreach campaign, according to Lewis C. Howe, who cochairs the coalition.
Andrew Ryan can be reached at acryan@globe.com.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
