People Are Pointing Out The "Safe" Things That Are Actually Pretty Dangerous, And It's Eye-Opening

Recently, I shared a list of things people generally assume are safe, but in actuality are more dangerous than they initially realized. You can read that article here. In the comments of that post, I asked BuzzFeed readers like you to share more examples of things that are way more dangerous than most people might think. From, "Yeah, that makes sense" to "Oh my god, I've never thought of it that way," here are 19 examples they shared:

1."Sharing a bed with an infant. I get it — new parents are tired, and it’s exhausting getting up every few hours, but one of the biggest causes of death in babies is being accidentally smothered. There are options like co-sleeper cribs that save lives."

2."Caffeine is pretty dangerous. Or really any substances that impacts energy/sleep. I remember in college drinking Red Bull all night to finish a paper, then when I wanted to sleep, I took a Tylenol PM or something. My heart went from racing to very scarily slow in a super short amount of time. I ended up OK, but it made me realize I needed to be careful. I now, 20 years later, can’t drink much caffeine because it jacks my heart rate and anxiety up."

3."Loneliness. Being lonely turns out to have about the same risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day."

4."Crowds. It’s very hard to get out once you’re in. It’s very easy for someone to rob you or attack you before you can react, and it takes very little for it to turn into a stampede if something goes wrong."

5."Piñatas! My dad used to work in hospitals and witnessed too many children with severe brain injuries or head trauma as the result of being hit by piñata sticks."

6."Standing up when your foot is asleep. I had no idea how common it was to break your foot this way until it happened to me."

7."Metal grill brushes. They can break off and get into your burger, and when you eat it, it can migrate through your esophagus or intestines causing internal damage or a bacterial infection that is hard to diagnose. Because they are stainless steel, they won’t just rust away. My daughter is a surgeon and has saved people from this. Use a wooden paddle to clean the grill."

8."Dogs in cars unsecured. Even if they're chill enough not to disrupt the driver, they're totally unprotected in a crash. Plus, any unsecured body in that situation basically becomes a projectile that can hurt other people. You can get a basic vest harness and dog seatbelt pretty inexpensively and keep everyone so much safer."

9."Natural gas! When I worked for a gas utility company, the amount of people who cared more about being inconvenienced for a few days because they needed to fix a gas appliance than the fact that if they used that faulty appliance, their house could explode. Yes, it sucks, and it’s expensive to fix. But it’s a lot more expensive to not have a home and pay for a funeral."

10."Jet skis. Just the number of traumas caused by falling off the back. The power of the water jet is enough to tear open VERY sensitive areas (butts, genitals) and do serious damage internally. No one ever talks about it!"

11."Cat bites. So many people treat them as nothing, but people can lose limbs and even die from them. Even scratches can be dangerous because of the litter trays. Wonderful pets, but you need to be careful if they injure you with any of their multiple pointy parts."

12."Walking on a treadmill without using the safety belt clip. I walked this way over 25 years before I fell. The treadmill eats your skin away fast! Always wear the safety clip that stops the belt if it’s pulled out! When you’re staring at the moving belt going 4 miles per hour from only a couple inches away, it is going incredibly fast. Lost plenty of skin and some flesh on shoulder, knee, and hand."

13."Mosquitoes. An aunt of mine got bitten while sitting on her front porch and got West Nile Virus. She had to be put into a medical coma to protect her brain from how much it was swelling, then spent months having to relearn how to walk, talk, read, and write. That was a few years ago, and she's back to approximately 95%. She's lucky to have survived that."

14."Metal rakes! When I was a kid, we accidentally left ours in the yard under a pile of leaves, and my mom stepped on it while wearing flip flops. It’s not like in the cartoons where the handle bounces up. It went completely through her foot. It was horrible!"

15."Germs. People carelessly wander around with a mild illness, not washing their hands all day and then touching things. It's gross! They think, 'Oh, it's just a simple cold. I'm not doing any harm, I'm a good person and would never hurt anyone.' You never know who has a compromised immune system. Kids are the worst for it, little walking petri dishes. Even people with working immune systems tend to get sick if they work with kids."

16."Pumping gas! My mom saw someone accidentally light themselves on fire at the gas station, and it traumatized her so bad, she refuses to pump gas in her car now. She made my dad do it or went to the full service stations."

17."Ice. Just because a lake looks frozen over doesn’t mean it can bear your weight. A friend of mine lost her first husband when his ski-doo fell through the ice on a lake. It’s much harder to get out if you fall through the ice than it looks on TV, and you can die of hypothermia even if you do get out."

18."Football. High schoolers and younger are hospitalized, in comas, or end up dead all the time. Here in a small town near me, one high schooler just died, and another was in a coma for six months a couple years ago. This is one small town in the US amongst thousands. Tackle football for youths is extremely dangerous."

19."Driving when you're tired. My friend was killed in a car accident at 27 because his dad fell asleep behind the wheel and crashed into a tree. Left the other two people unharmed. Please at least pull over if you’re driving sleepy."

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.