Are Selfies More Dangerous Than Sharks?

The answer might not be obvious.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Fear of sharks: normal. Fear of selfies: unheard of. The latter of the two seems like a joke, right? But why when scary selfie accidents are happening all around us every day like a college bound teen accidentally killing himself after taking a selfie with a gun. Accidents like these have even led Russia to launch a “Safe Selfy” campaign advocating,as the title suggests, safe selfies, not ones with wild animals, weapons, or in other dangerous situations. Still not scared? What if we told you selfies were more likely to kill you than a shark attack?

This year has been big on headline-making shark attacks, and through August eight shark-related deaths have been confirmed. Believe it or not in the same time span ten selfie-related deaths were confirmed, and who knows how many didn’t make the cut. 

Selfies have become such a hazard that in June the European Union proposed criminalizing touristy selfies, specifically those containing landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower or the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

[via Condé Nast Traveler]

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