People Explain Which Commonplace Things Are Way More Dangerous Than Anyone Thinks

Do Not Underestimate Thousands of Gallons an Hour

"Water currents. Rip tides in the ocean and eddy currents in streams. We have some river canyons with signs describing all of the ways you can die in the river and people still die swimming there."

-- hafilax

Hands Free, People

"Walking down stairs with your hands in your pockets. Never ever do it, especially not drunk. A fall down even 1 or 2 stairs with no hands to catch you can break your neck."

"I've seen a video of a man tripping and falling down 4 stairs, hitting the top of his head on the wall and dying right there in the stairwell."

-- MikMakMarowak

Lurking in the Walls

"Mold. It can be poisonous, make you hallucinate and eating it can seriously mess with your body." -- biastuna36508

"Can confirm. I had a friend who lived in a mold-infested house for the first part of the fall 2019 semester. They went in and tested the place once they found out there was mold; her bedroom had something like 30,000 times the background amount of mold in the air."

"She basically doesn't remember anything from that semester, and she had a lot of serious health effects for a while after she moved away. It can royally screw you up." -- McChickenFingers

You Never Know

"Not getting regular check-ups. I almost died because I had a in internal hemorrhage that was slowly killing me."

"I was so depleted of iron and blood that the nurses thought my vitals were written in wrong because I should have been dead. I needed 3 pints of blood in one sitting."

-- evanjw90

The Real Version is Grim

"Being knocked unconscious. Lots of popular media makes it seem like a minor thing that an average person can shrug off after a short period."

"In reality, if you are ever knocked out, then you have suffered brain damage. It's possible there might not be any lasting effects, but it's a serious injury and you 100% need to see a doctor if it ever happens to you."

-- Calliophage

Let it Out!

"Blocking your nose when you sneeze. Though it's rare, you can damage blood vessels in your eyes and nose, you can rupture your eardrum, and you can even have an aneurysm." -- chenafe124

"Dad sneeze = healthy sneeze" -- TeemuKai

"My dads friend did this at the office and just dropped dead next to his desk. I never held in a sneeze after hearing that, and I tell everyone I love not to either." -- 4ngeldust

Tension Flares

"Towing a stuck car with a chain, there is a list of people who have died from having the chain come through the back window and kill them." -- smartlikehammer

"If there's one thing I'll always stress, its a real tow rope. Endless uses, not that expensive, you'll probably only ever need to buy one, they won't smash your skull in if they break." -- southernsquelcher

A Numbers Game 

"Driving, like you see the statistics of car crash deaths but i don't think you ever truly realize how dangerous it is to simply drive somewhere since it is such a routine thing." -- Packathonjohn

"Driving tired, sleepy." -- _Duh_Vinci_

"Life on the road would be safer if 5-year mandatory retests were a thing, and not just for seniors." -- tashkiira

"When I was learning to drive, my uncle made very clear to me this: Don't worry about what you might do nearly as much as what some other idiot on the road might do. Just be patient and assume other drivers are sh**." -- ArcadianBlueRogue

New Policy: No Biting

"Bites from other human beings are actually really dangerous due to infection rates." -- RustyCopal

"A friend bit me once. I turn into her every full moon." -- vampiressprey

"My mom got drunk and bit my dad. He had to get a tetanus shot. To give some more details, they were in Disneyland when it happened." -- SusieSlaughter

"Super Food"

"Eating a lot of spinach. Believe it or not people have had kidney failure from 3 spinach smoothies in a day. This is due to the high levels of oxalic acid." -- yeahbuddy186

"Ugh now all night long I'll be wondering if I'm spinach poisoned." -- shatteringopal

"Popeye's gonna die soon." -- AdmiralAckbar66