Walking down a flight of stairs can be as mundane an activity as tying a pair of shoes. Most of us treat it as something that is second nature, completely forgetting about the inherent dangers. To paint quite a grim picture, various law firms have reported that over a million people in the US get injured each year falling down a stairway.
Now, this isn’t a doom and gloom post as much as it is a reminder of the things and activities that can actually badly hurt us (or worse) if we get too careless. It could be swimming in the ocean, posting personal details online, or being out in nature, among many others.
These people on Reddit also shared their insights, which you will find as you scroll through.
#1
Driving. We do it every day. And every day there are more cars on roads. We’re increasing our chances of injury or passing every day.
Image source: Veteranis, msvyatkovska
#2
Carnival rides.
Image source: masturkiller, Image-Source
#3
Petting strangers’ dogs. Even breeds not generally considered dangerous.
Image source: 142riemann, myjuly
#4
Swimming in the ocean.
Image source: dddybtv, YuriArcursPeopleimages
#5
Electricity.
Image source: Ronw12, davidpereiras
#6
Posting your entire life online. No one needs to know everything about you. Too much risk in something coming back to bite you in the a*s.
People that do this are literally insane.
Image source: CallingDrDingle, ArtemVarnitsin
#7
Poor dental hygiene can lead to heart disease.
Image source: speckledgem, AntonioGravante
#8
Water. It’s so powerful.
Image source: Kind-Character7342, anatoliy_gleb
#9
Usually things that make people say “Well I do it all the time and I’m fine”.
Image source: The_Joker_116, joshua_resnick
#10
Stairs. They end a lot of people.
Image source: Parking_War_4100, YuriArcursPeopleimages
#11
Dating.
Image source: Glittering_Estate744, FreshPrinceOfH
#12
Mountain biking. It is a super popular sport but it is really dangerous. I am a mountain biker. Everyone I know has had a serious injury.
Image source: english_major, ImageSourceCur
#13
Botox. Medspas.
Image source: Ninac4116
#14
Walking around or behind a horse without keeping your hand on it.
Horses can get very scared very fast and a well placed kick can beak your neck, leave you a vegetable or even stop your heart.
If you must move around one, keep a hand on it after it is aware of your presence and slide it with you so it knows where you are, also stay very close to it the whole time so the potential kick has less wind-up.
Image source: ironwolf6464
#15
A lot of carnival rides. A lot of them have long-ignored mechanical problems, and the people operating them aren’t exactly rocket scientists.
Image source: SubatomicGoblin
#16
Speeding, using your phone while driving.
Image source: anon, sedrik2007
#17
Hippos.
Image source: FreshPrinceOfH, Mint_Images
#18
Grapes and other easy to accidentally swallow foods.
Image source: Parking_War_4100
#19
Sunbathing may be?
Image source: GuyLapin
#20
Ozempic.
Image source: jjsslo
#21
Wet tile.
Image source: anon
#22
Island beaches. There are a lot in Hawaii that are a lot more dangerous than tourists realize. Islands are on the edge of the vast ocean and can sweep people in.
Image source: cmccormick
#23
On the beach: “Oh, look, the water is going way out!”.
Image source: anon
#24
Mushrooms there is a saying. There are old mushroom hunters. And bold mushroom hunters. But there are no old bold mushroom hunters.
Image source: trax6256
#25
Saving someone with a heimlich grip. You can definitely rupture someone’s organs with this move and people have died as a result of being saved by this procedure. Always send someone to the hospital after doing this as the victim might otherwise bleed to death in their sleep that night.
Image source: sebastiaandaniel
#26
Water that you only *think* is deep.
Always check before you jump. Always.
Image source: itgoesHRUUURGH
#27
Crossing the road, even when doing it “properly”.
Image source: DryProperty
#28
Running water in a steam / river. The currents are much stronger than they look and can easily sweep an adult right off their feet.
Image source: Actuaryba
#29
Driving closely behind a truck pulling a trailer, cutting them off or breaking suddenly in front of them. If I’m hauling a horse trailer, I CANNOT stop quickly. You put everyone in danger by doing that.
Image source: anon
#30
Flour.
Flour dispersed into the air is more explosive than gunpowder, and eating raw flour can give you salmonella.
Image source: berael
#31
E-scooters.
Image source: revcor86
#32
Hiking alone.
Image source: Fun-Attempt-8494
#33
I think people know using a mobile device while driving is dangerous, but don’t *realize* its danger.
Image source: anon
#34
Being out in nature.
It’s a lot of fun to visit, but trying to spend an extended amount of time (like overnight) without preparation and knowledge can get you k****d.
Image source: PrincessRuri
#35
Alcohol.
Image source: PepegaTheThird
#36
Childbirth. A surprising amount of people go into pregnancy not realizing how bad it can be and end up with some sort of impairment, disability, or even death because of it. My mom almost died birthing my youngest sibling. The US has high maternal mortality rates, and yet people act like you’re crazy when you say you don’t want kids.
Image source: anon
#37
Garage door springs.
Image source: huh_phd
#38
Honestly. Just driving back and forth from work always seems so benign that I forgot to be thankful for getting home safely.
Car accidents are one of the leading causes of death in the US!
Image source: thislittledwight
#39
Letting your dog off the leash in public.
Image source: anon
#40
Knocking somebody out. According to movies you just hit the ground and get up after a couple of minutes of unconsciousness then shrug it off.
Image source: somelerdreams
#41
Pushing someone in the water as a prank. Why is that still a thing? I’ve heard of people getting seriously hurt or drowning. Even a redditor said that they knew how to swim but they were taken by surprise so their body froze up.
Image source: croptopweather
#42
Sleep deprivation, and not sleeping properly for whatever reason because procrastination seems funnier.
Image source: ES_Legman, GroundPicture
#43
Saving a drowning person. The person isn’t just going to calm down and let him being dragged, he is going to try to save himself at your cost.
Image source: anon
#44
Petting dogs you’re not familiar with. So many people just walk up to dogs and start trying to pat them, and then have the gall to be offended when the dog is anything less than enthusiastic about being petted by a stranger.
The simple truth is that, like people, dogs have different personalities and even those raised by perfectly good families and socialized as pups can end up with attitude problems. You also never know what could set off a dog or what hidden trauma it may or may not have. I have seen so many people who try to push forward even when the dog is already growling at them. You’d think they’d realize that the dog is explicitly warning them that it’s gonna bite if they come any closer, but they don’t listen. They think it’s funny/cute/a test and still try to pet the dog since they “have a way with animals”.
Approach all dogs with caution, ask first how friendly the dog is, and don’t be mad when the owner is blunt and tells you to stay away.
Image source: coturnixxx
#45
Wet floors. Busted 4 of my teeth out a couple months ago right after I clocked out and slipped on the floor I JUST mopped.
Image source: myfavoritesocks
#46
Marriage.
Image source: HugePatFenis
#47
Re-ligion.
Image source: flemtone
#48
Showers. Old people slip and get broken bones often. Also rugs.
Image source: O51ArchAng3L
#49
Notes appearing around the house that you didn’t put there.
Image source: Rippage
#50
Birth control pills. In some women, they can cause blood clots (DVT or deep vein thrombosis). These clots can form anywhere in the body. Sometimes the blood clots can dislodge and get carried by blood to lungs (pulmonary embolism) or heart (heart attack). When blood clotting occurs in the brain (cerebral thrombosis), they can cause a stroke.
EDIT: I would also like to share that last year I had a CVT stroke because I had been on Estrogen BC for 8 months. 8 MONTHS!!! That’s all it took. Out of the blue, I had severe headache that felt like someone was hitting the back of my head with a baseball bat…every second. I lost motor control in my arms and legs, couldn’t see properly or understand anything. I even forgot my name! Turns out all major veins in my brain were completely clogged by clots. It took over a year of rehab but luckily I have fully recovered. I hope and wish this never happen to anyone ever. Sorry for the long text.
Image source: KungFu-omega-warrior
#51
Literally anything if you throw it hard enough.
Image source: rilaz4
#52
Not doing the dishes and mum coming home.
Image source: haw-wah
#53
Diarrhea.
Image source: punjabijabi
#54
Eating rice that’s been left out for a while.
Image source: anon
#55
Sunburns can be very dangerous.
Normally you don’t think too much of them, just a few days of irritated/itchy skin, but if you aren’t careful you drastically increase your chance of getting malignant melanoma (skin cancer) through a handful of decent sunburns.
Image source: Currdogger
#56
Kids who let the escalator slide their shoes from the stairs to the platform. Also animals going on escalators period. If you don’t want to know why then don’t google “escalator degloving”.
Image source: S-IMS
#57
To anyone unfamiliar with cooking, if you’re frying with a lot of oil, do not add water and especially not an ice cube. Sounds so silly, but you’d be surprised that it’s not more of a PSA especially considering how harmless in theory it sounds.
Image source: 114631
#58
NSAIDS (ibuprofen, alive, etc) when there’s alcohol in your system. That stuff will fry your kidneys.
Image source: anon
#59
Letting small children play with dogs. Especially medium to larger breeds that can do a lot of damage. And yes, I’m looking at you: pit bulls, akitas, German shepherds, etc.
Even that special angel of a dog who has never shown aggression before, can react when feeling stressed.
I will fight anyone and die on this hill!!
Edit: I know not everyone thinks this but there’s a lot of folks out there who will deny that their precious dog COULD EVER do harm. And that is plain false.
Image source: TerraFey
#60
Texting and driving.
I know you think you’re a safe driver and you’re paying attention but you’re just not. You’re distracted and in charge of a speeding tonne of metal. Seriously, don’t do it.
Image source: subtropicalyland
#61
Using a fire escape on an old multi-floor apartment building.
A resident found out the hard way when trying to exit by using the building’s badly rusted fire escape. The weight of his body caused one of the “landings” to cave in, even though the landlord supposedly had the fire escape “inspected” for code compliance.
Image source: anon
#62
Prescribed medicine. Just because it’s prescribed doesn’t mean it’s safe.
Image source: Data_Trip
#63
Eating cinnamon.
Image source: CritterNYC
#64
Popping your neck can cause a stroke!
Edit: my understanding of the physiology was wrong. It has more to do with impaired blood flow to the brain than blood clots.
Image source: LailaGxxx
#65
Falling in love. If you do it with someone who doesn’t care enough to recognize the significance it could be the death of you. It’s probably going to be the death of me.
Image source: TheBeastAtTanagraa
#66
Sugar. Most people don’t realize how terrible the stuff is for you. *takes sip of soda*.
Image source: SirEarlBigtitsXXVII
#67
Tylenol. If it came out today, it would be prescription only.
Image source: FraggleBiologist
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