DEATH BY SELFIE: THE NUMBERS

A Turkish statistician has tallied up selfie-related incidents reported in the media from December 2013 to January 2017. You would think most injuries that happen while trying to take a selfie resulted from falling, but the leading cause of death was drowning. In more unusual cases of death, a Russian man died after posing with a grenade that went off, and in 2016 a tourist in China was dragged underwater by a walrus while he was snapping a selfie with it. Here is a list of 132 selfie-related deaths published in media, December 2013 to January 2017:
– Drowning – 57
– Falling – 27
– Crushed by train – 18
– Gunshot – 8
– Electrocution – 7
– Truck collision – 6
– Animal – 4
– Explosion – 3
– Motorcycle collision – 1
– Hot water burns – 1
* Of course, these all fall under the “Death by Stupid” heading.
* If you fall off a cliff into the ocean and drown, which category does that fit into?
* Selfie deaths are sad, but at least people get to have a nice final picture of you.
* The researcher posed for a selfie next to his report and when the flash went off, he blinked and fell out a window.
* Could everybody just back off on the vanity?
* 132 deaths out of – what? – 300 billion selfies? That’s not too bad.
* Texting – that’s where the real carnage is happening. Boats running aground, trains running off the tracks …
* If ever a piece of equipment was made specifically for the expression, “Hold my beer”, the smart phone camera is it.