Selfies have caused more deaths than shark attacks this year

They say 83.2% of statistics are made up on the spot, but I regrettably assure you the following one isn’t. So far this year, more people have died from selfie-related incidents than have been killed by sharks.

According to publicly available information, eight people have died from shark attacks this year, while a whopping twelve people have passed away while trying to snap a selfie. 

Of the twelve selfie-related deaths, four were attributed to falling while trying to capture a self-portrait. The next leading cause of death the reported incidents is being hit by objects while snapping a photo, an outcome that we tragically reported on earlier this year when three college students were killed while attempting to take a selfie in front of a moving train.

More and more places are banning selfies for these very reasons. Not only are they putting themselves in danger, but also other people and wildlife as well.

Jokes will inevitably be made, but it’s important to keep in mind that you always need to be aware of your surroundings before snapping a photo, especially one where you’re not looking directly at the object you’re capturing.

As Mashable so appropriately shared from a quote attributed to an aide to Russia’s interior minister, ‘Before taking a selfie, everyone should think about the fact that racing after a high number of ‘likes’ could lead him on a journey to death and his last extreme photo could turn out to be posthumous.’

(via Mashable)

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Image credits: Selfie Vélib by Jean-François Gornet used under CC BY-SA 2.0