Statistics Show Taking Selfies More Dangerous Than Shark Attacks

Japanese tourist Hideto Ueda died at the Taj Mahal recently while trying to take a selfie. The death has highlighted the growing danger of people dying while trying to capture their best phone pic.

Ueda, 66, died at the famous Indian landmark when he fell down stairs while trying to take a selfie. Mr. Ueda’s incident marks the 12^th recorded death in 2015 from people dying while trying to take a photo of themselves. As Mashable notes, that number exceeds the number of people who have so far been killed by sharks (eight) in the same period.

Now, granted, since Jaws was released 40 years ago, sharks have gotten an unwarranted bad reputation as vicious killers and there are probably plenty of other animals we could compare these selfie deaths to, but the number of selfie deaths is a startling reminder of the carelessness (read, stupidity) of many people.

As Mashable noted, Mr. Ueda’s death marks the fourth death caused by falling. The next leading cause was people being hit or injured by trains… Which, I mean, people are still that fascinated by trains?

There have been other reports of people attempting selfies with wildlife, like bears, or bulls, and some famous landmarks have even started to ban selfies and/or selfie sticks.

Word to the wise, folks. The amount of Facebook or Instagram “Likes” you may get from your image definitely isn’t worth your life.