Recently, I shared a Reddit thread where people pointed out things we consider "safe" that — in reality — are actually more dangerous than most people think. In that article, I asked BuzzFeed readers to share their own examples in the comments, and they came up with tons of great, unexpected examples. Honestly — I've never really given a second thought to some of these things, but I'm certainly seeing them in a whole new light now. Here are 19 examples they shared:
Note: If you'd like to learn more about the examples provided, clicking on the links in this article will lead you to sources where you can get more information!
1. "Shoveling. Since I was a little kid, every year I’d hear about people dying of heart attacks shoveling snow, and it really stuck with me."
2. "Medications like ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Do not take more than the bottle advises. I've known people who will take a handful at a time, because the pain is really bad. Trust me when I say that kidney and liver failure hurt way worse than your tooth."
3. "Swimming at a beach! There is a low chance of getting hurt by sharks, but there are still jellyfish and other small animals that can hurt you. Beyond animals, you can get swept away by a surprise rip tide and not even realize it until you start to drown (speaking from personal experience). And another big one most people don’t consider is bacteria in the water and sand. If you do something as innocuous as swim at the beach with your contacts in, you can wind up with a serious bacterial infection in your eyes. Heed warnings at the beach not to swim because of bacteria!"
4. "As someone who works with personal injury, not tying down stuff on truck beds properly is a big one. I mostly see it with industrial flatbed trucks, but it can be other situations, too. Often on a highway, this debris flying or rolling off will cause multiple-car accidents."
5. "Conditioner or other creamy/soapy liquids in the shower. Especially without a non-slip mat. The number of people who slip on them, especially in hotels where they don’t provide mats, is wild. So, so, so, so dangerous."
6. "Lawnmowers! My mom and I were sitting at a kitchen table next to the window. My stepdad was cutting the grass. We heard a loud pop, and the glass on the front of the oven shattered. The stove was at least 15 feet away on the other side of the room! It was a rock about an inch in diameter that hit it. It had gone through two layers of window, in between me and my mom, across the room, to the stove and through that glass! If it had been a foot to the left or right, one of us would have been dead. I always make little kids go in the house when someone is cutting grass."
7. "My Dad's a doctor and: fireworks. The number of people who get severely injured by regular Fourth of July fireworks is wild. He would never let us have fireworks. He even said he'd seen a small kid with severe burns to the face from a sparkler."
8. "Essential oils. If not diluted properly, they can really screw up your skin. Plus, so many of them are toxic to animals!"
9. "Head injuries in general. If you fall and hit your head, but you feel okay, you probably won't have it checked out. Even if you feel perfectly normal, get yourself to a hospital. You never mess around with possible head injuries."
10. "Those electric scooters in cities!! Nobody wears a helmet, and the amount of ER visits they cause is wild. The main inner city hospital in Denver has seen brain deaths from scooter accidents."
11. "'A tick is just a tiny insect — it can't do that much damage, surely?' Yes, it can! Prevent them with repellent, check for ticks after being outside in long grass, remove them (carefully and entirely), monitor the bite area, consult a doctor. Don't wait for the bullseye rash — not all tick bites cause it. Draw around the tick bite in a permanent marker so you can monitor if and how it spreads."
12. "Plastic. Get angry, sure, we’re indoctrinated to not live without it. I’m not some crunchy granola person on a soap box. Just a scientist who’s suggesting you consider all the plastic in your life."
13. "RIDING A BICYCLE WITH NO HELMET OR RIDING WHILE YOU'RE ON YOUR PHONE!!! The amount of teenagers I see with no hands on the handlebars and staring at their phones with no helmets is crazy. They're all on crowded streets, too! Someone is going to get hurt. Please wear your helmet and don't go on your phone."
14. "Ladders! People often think of them as safe, simple, and sturdy, but all it takes is one small step in the wrong direction and you could be dead, paralyzed, or in the best scenario, a little bruised. Last year, I almost fell while on a ladder; the only reason I did not go down was my fast reflex to grab on to the tree I was picking apples from."
15. "Grilling. People seem to have no clue how dangerous propane is."
16. "Pinecones! I tripped over a pinecone at the beginning of the summer and then smashed my knees into a brick walkway. I howled! Left such a huge gash and scar behind. Pinecones are seriously dangerous! Beware of pinecones."
17. "Generators. They HAVE to be kept outside, in a well ventilated place. The number of people that die after power outages because they keep their generators inside is astounding."
18. "Jumping and especially diving into any body of water but especially lakes or oceans and especially from heights. I had on three separate occasions students in my class as a special education teacher that had permanent lifelong physical and even mental disabilities from traumatic brain injury."
19. And finally, "Drinking and boating. It amazes me the number of people who would never think of drinking and driving but don’t apply that same sensibility to boating. And the same logic about motorcycles/ATV without a helmet applies to boats/jet skiing without a life vest."
Are there any other things that are actually pretty dangerous but everyone acts like they're safe? Tell us in the comments below!
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.