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21 dangerous things people do

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Sometimes fate has just decided that it is your time to go – such as when a rock or tree falls on your car when you drive along a pass, or you are the one person fatally injured in a building accident or explosion.

Some things are obvious and come naturally to people, such as checking the traffic before crossing the road and not picking up hitchhikers next to the N1. But there are lots of things, which many people do without thinking, that could kill them or those around them.

And if you think these things are terribly obvious, you need only read the newspapers to see that people do these crazy things regularly.

Dangerous things no-one should ever do

  • Sitting in the passenger seat of the car holding a toddler on your lap.
  • Leaving old fridges lying about in the backyard.
  • Driving when you have had one too many.
  • Fetching food or water for strangers and not closing the door behind you.
  • Going out on a boat that does not have enough lifejackets for everyone on board.
  • Deciding not to fence the pool in your backyard.
  • Standing up straight when travelling on the back of a bakkie.
  • Having electric cords run under carpets or across doorways.
  • Swimming in the sea when you’ve had one too many.
  • Using an ATM in a dodgy area late at night.
  • Leaving your back door open without locking the security gate.
  • Letting your kids play with marbles or giving them sweets that could stick in their throats.
  • Employing people off the street without checking references or identification.
  • Not keeping guns locked in a safe and unloaded.
  • Deciding that armed response and a portable panic button are too expensive to have installed.
  • ‘Saving’ money by not having a decent hospital plan.
  • Driving with worn tyres, buying bad quality retreads and not regularly checking your brakes and shocks.
  • Drawing large amounts of cash in full public view.
  • Not switching off heaters when you go to sleep.
  • Pouring petrol or paraffin on a fire to get it going.
  • Leaving medication lying around within reach of toddlers.

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