Safety paranoia

There was a sign on a gate to a school near my home this morning stating

‘This gate is locked because of the icy conditions of the path.’

As a result, any child going to school would need to walk along the road and round to the main entrance of the school. This is a longer distance and these paths were also icy. But not the school’s responsibility. So that’s all right then. It doesn’t matter if the school increases the (albeit small) risk of a child having a serious accident on the ice, as long as the risk of the school being sued for it is reduced.