While we try not to think about it too much, our mortality is often just around the corner. Humans underestimate the dangers to themselves all the time, often putting themselves at unnecessary risk.
So one internet user wanted to know about the simple and generally avoidable risks people have subjected themselves to, often with lethal results. Netizens gave some insightful and often frightening tales of deaths that could be avoided. So read through and make sure to take some notes, it just might save your life. Remember to upvote your favorites and comment your own stories and suggestions.
#1
Basing test dummies on the proportions of the average man. Many women and children have died in car crashes because the seatbelt is up too high across their body or the airbag hits at the wrong angle because it was designed to expand to accommodate a taller person. Just wish SOMEONE figured out not everyone is the same size BEFORE people died
Image source: Beetlejuice1800
#2
There’s a super famous example which got made into a film eventually I think called open water
But the original story was a yacht was found sailing adrift with a baby aboard and no crew anywhere to be seen. No signs of panic were found. The baby was dehydrated but otherwise fine.
Eventually it was assumed that whilst at sea they went for a swim. The sides of yacht stick out of water quite high in place but on most boats the stern is lowered so you can climb into and out of the yacht from a tender (small dingy). This yacht was different and had a ladder lowered from the back.
This was either up or missing. But they couldnt get back on the boat and eventually drowned or were attacked by predators.
Now I never jump in without thinking about this. Because you can’t ever garuntee the person behind won’t do the same.
Imagine trying everything to get back to your screaming baby mere feet away and just being out of reach. It’d get dark. The wind might pick up and carry the boat away.
Those final moment would be agony from such a simple mistake
Image source: Danither, Artem Verbo
#3
Not using a f*****g turn signal.
Image source: UncleBathTime, Krzysztof Hepner
#4
Go to hospital after almost drowning!!!! Water can still be in your lungs and kill u later!!
Image source: EdgyBrokeArtist, Blake Cheek
#5
Baby in the backseat.
I’m in childcare and I’ll do some insane things to remember there’s a baby back there. Take my shoes off, put my phone back there, dirty diaper as a reminder.
People forget. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Mom, nanny, father, nurse, firefighter. It happens.
And yet there’s always someone who says “I’d never forget my baby”. And every year babies die because of it.
Image source: lighthousek, Erik Mclean
#6
Mao’s idea to get rid of sparrows.
In short, Chinas great leader Mao had calculated that sparrows eat grain and if china got rid of them, they would have more food. So they did indeed decimate the sparrow population.
They did not consider that sparrows eat lots of insects aswell, which started to thrive. Including locusts. The locusts ate the grain, famine, between 16 and 30 million people died.
When he recognized his mistake, he asked the soviet union for help and they secretly shipped sparrows to china.
This is a bit a stretch though, lots of factors led to the famine, lots of mistakes were made. But of all of them, this was probably the most obviously stupid one.
#7
The most common cause of quadriplegia is diving into water without checking the depth of the water. Always check the water depth before you jump.
Image source: WoodsAreHome, Simone Mascellari 🇮🇹
#8
Not wearing a seatbelt
Image source: Ok_Distance9511, RDNE Stock project
#9
Not looking both ways when crossing a street
#10
Leaving the stranded vehicle on the road in winter and trying to walk to get help. It happens in rural parts of our province once or twice a year and they find the body a few days later. They get disoriented and freeze.
Image source: Regina_Runner, Oleksandr Pidvalnyi
#11
A man in Toronto wanted to show off to his colleagues about the new “shatter-proof” glass that was installed in their high-rise office, so he ran at the window full speed and threw all of his weight into it.
He fell to his death, because the entire window pane popped out.
Image source: numbersev
#12
Long, long ago I was on the crew of a submarine older than me. We went into the shipyard; one of the planned jobs was to install some new equipment that required a hull penetration. One Friday afternoon a shipyard worker drilled a 1/8 inch pilot hole through the hull, intending to come back on Monday to finish the job. The job got cancelled, he got reassigned, and the hole remained. It was covered with duct tape to keep dirt out.
The painters went ahead and sprayed over the tape.
How deep can a piece of duct tape + paint hold on a dive? About 218 feet. Before you ask, yes, we survived.
Image source: BobT21, Darren Halstead
#13
I worked at a tire place for a summer and the first thing they told me was “See that torque wrench ? One mistake with this and you can kill a whole family in a matter of seconds”. I thought well, better take this thing seriously
Image source: FrenchMicrowave, Jimmy Nilsson Masth
#14
People outdoors getting amazed when their hair stands up during a thunderstorm.
PS: it means you’re about to die.
Image source: wrath28, Michaela Pereckas
#15
Not cleaning the lint catcher on the dryer
Image source: Baylisstico, shiwork
#16
Pulling the knife out of someone
Image source: rcadephantom, Markus Spiske
#17
Mixing cleaning ingredients.
Image source: Jonnysource, Kelly Sikkema
#18
Near me there was a serious traffic collision. Several cars and 2 trucks. 3 people died when one truck ploughed into stationary traffic at around 50mph. The crash and resulting fire was so horrific 2 people were only identified by their dead dog on the carriageway (it was microchipped).
It was on the BBC news and have been documentaries about it.
The truck driver was on his phone. He was charged and is now in prison.
Image source: velazquezisabella, Seb Creativo
#19
That all heart attacks have the exact same symptoms. They don’t.
Trust yourself and seek help ASAP if you are afraid that you’re having a heart attack.
Image source: EntertainmentOne8416, Puwadon Sang-ngern
#20
Oily paint/staining rags will combust.
Per the internets:
“Spontaneous combustion of oily rags occurs when rag or cloth is slowly heated to its ignition point through oxidation. A substance will begin to release heat as it oxidizes. If this heat has no way to escape, like in a pile, the temperature will rise to a level high enough to ignite the oil and ignite the rag or cloth.”
My Dad worked in construction and this had happened on job sites a time or two.
Image source: bailey1149, Craig Morey
#21
Not leaving where you are during a hurricane.
Image source: Journeyj012, NASA
#22
The “I had the right of way” argument while driving.
Even if you did, are you willing to literally… die on that hill?
Image source: titankyle08
#23
Drinking while taking medications
Image source: algaebomb, Joey Nicotra
#24
Not checking and planning for the weather
Image source: PM_ME_UR_DATAVIZ, Ross Sneddon
#25
Cutting towards yourself, rather than away.
Being on statins for high cholesterol plus amiodarone for cardiac issues and having a glass of grapefruit juice before going to bed.
Smoking in bed.
former paramedic
Image source: Cross_Contamination, Klaus Nielsen
#26
Getting fired up from road rage.
Image source: Claudius96, gpointstudio
#27
Not having a carbon monoxide detector
Image source: I-like-oranges75, Abi Begum
#28
Not being honest with doctors about viagra.
It has many dangerous drug interactions and can cause a lot of problems from what I’ve heard. Trust me the doctor ain’t gonna judge you guys, they have seen much more embarrassing things. And it would suck to die because you wanted to hide something just for it to be later stated in your death certificate.
Image source: The_upsetti_spagetti, Tim Reckmann
#29
As a healthcare worker, giving the wrong amount of insulin.
Image source: UzumakiHorror, Mykenzie Johnson
#30
Nigerian Airlines flight 2120 (operated by Nationair) departed Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after a maintenance worker reinflated a tyre with air instead of Nitrogen. The tyre heated up, burst, and caught fire during the take off roll. The landing gear was retracted into the aircraft and burned the airfract from the inside out. The fire caused a mid air structural failure shortly before the pilots could return to Jeddah. My father’s first wife was a flight attended on that flight. Her and 260 others died. It remains the most deadly aviation accident involving a Canadian airline.
Image source: fin_ss
#31
I once listened to a guy telling the story of how, when he fell down the stairs, he desperately clutched onto the glas of wine he was carrying, in order not to break it, instead of grabbing the railing to stop his fall. He survived with a broken hip, but I imagine lots of people probably have the same weird instinct and some may not be able to tell the tale.
Image source: onesmilematters
#32
There have been too many instances of rock climbers rappelling off of the ends of their ropes, which could have been easily avoided by tying stopper knots at the ends of their ropes.
Image source: LZRDLZRD, Katya Wolf
#33
Shaking a vending machine
Image source: oneofyrfencegrls, Kenny Eliason
#34
A friend’s husband locked himself out of their home. He tried to get in through a window that had security bars. While squeezing through his foot slipped and he essentially hung himself on the window sill.
Image source: Cokej01, MontyLov
#35
I read an article a long time ago about a aircraft maintenance worker not removing a piece of tape that was put in place to protect a sensor during cleaning. The pilot failed to notice during the preflight inspection. 70 people died in the plane crash.
Image source: JM_Flynn, Andrew Palmer
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