Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity

Nov 10, 18 15:35

Post #1 of 23 (1850 views)

Very interesting graphic (that's way too big to shrink down sufficiently to post here). What are your chances of dying if you're running, for example? 1 in 1 million, apparently, though hang gliding presents you with a 1 in 560 chance of getting killed.

Bicycling comes with a 1 in 140,845 chance of getting you wiped slick. Swimming's another of those 1 in 1 million sports. Which I guess makes triathlon a pretty ho-hum affair when you compare it with hang gliding, boxing (1 in 2,200) or... base jumping. That one's scary dangerous at 1 in 60.

Know what's sad? You have a better chance of getting killed at dance parties (1 in 100,000) than running, biking or swimming. Jeezus... is triathlon the sport of soy boys and soy girls, or what? ;-)

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]

Nov 10, 18 15:44

Post #2 of 23 (1831 views)

Yes
Thats why I chose it once I reached my 40's. Getting a little too old for motocross.

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]

Nov 10, 18 16:27

Post #3 of 23 (1802 views)

So clearly hang gliding is dangerous, but I would not have thought it was that high or that skydiving and bungee jumping were that low.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [j p o] [ In reply to ]

Nov 10, 18 16:36

Post #4 of 23 (1790 views)

j p o wrote:

So clearly hang gliding is dangerous, but I would not have thought it was that high or that skydiving and bungee jumping were that low.

Skydiving, I knew that wasn't as dangerous as people think. I jumped in the military (static line and free fall). It's all about your technique and making sure your equipment is squared away. If both are tight, and you don't have a heart attack on the descent (and I know of one case where that happened to a tandem jump instructor who died in air and took his student with him... they landed in water and the student drowned), you should be fine. It's just that every time someone goes in, it receives a lot of press coverage.

I didn't know that bungee jumping was fairly low-risk, as far as such things go. BASE jumping, though? How many old or retired BASE jumpers are there? ;-)

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]

Nov 10, 18 16:49

Post #5 of 23 (1768 views)

I have been thinking about taking flying lessons for a while but my gut says not too. I have flown in Cessna like planes before without issue, but I am going to listen to my internal dialogue and do something else. Maybe my loss or maybe my gain but unless a Cessna crashes on my home that's not the way I am going out.

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [jkca1] [ In reply to ]

Nov 10, 18 18:25

Post #6 of 23 (1702 views)

jkca1 wrote:

I have been thinking about taking flying lessons for a while but my gut says not too. I have flown in Cessna like planes before without issue, but I am going to listen to my internal dialogue and do something else. Maybe my loss or maybe my gain but unless a Cessna crashes on my home that's not the way I am going out.

Those little general aviation planes? No thanks! ;-)

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]

Nov 10, 18 19:32

Post #7 of 23 (1651 views)

They have to interconnect some of these things. Its one in a million playing computer games but then that more than likely puts you into a higher risk obesity class.

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]

Nov 10, 18 20:01

Post #8 of 23 (1636 views)

big kahuna wrote:

jkca1 wrote:

I have been thinking about taking flying lessons for a while but my gut says not too. I have flown in Cessna like planes before without issue, but I am going to listen to my internal dialogue and do something else. Maybe my loss or maybe my gain but unless a Cessna crashes on my home that's not the way I am going out.

Those little general aviation planes? No thanks! ;-)

If you look at the Hillary Clinton body count web sites one thing jumps out. Not that Clinton kills people, but that you should stay the hell out of those little Buddy Holly killing planes.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]

Nov 11, 18 6:43

Post #9 of 23 (1528 views)

What's the frame of reference they're using?

"1 in 1 million chance of dying each time you go running"

Is very different than

"Of the people that run, during their lifetime 1 in 1 million will die as a result attributable to running"

I suspect it's the second one, but that means that something like base jumping (where you wouldn't necessarily do it every day) is on a different scale entirely vs something like running, which some people do daily.

Even take something like cycling. If I commute 2x per day, 5x per week, for 40 weeks per year, 30 years out of my life, then I've cycled 12,000 trips. If the 1 in 120,000 risk is "per trip" then my real lifetime odds are 1 in 10. I suspect its 1 in 120k lifetime though (but these sorts of infographics aren't always so clear)

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]

Nov 11, 18 7:50

Post #10 of 23 (1504 views)

"Skydiving, I knew that wasn't as dangerous as people think. I jumped in the military (static line and free fall). It's all about your technique and making sure your equipment is squared away. If both are tight, and you don't have a heart attack on the descent (and I know of one case where that happened to a tandem jump instructor who died in air and took his student with him... they landed in water and the student drowned), you should be fine. It's just that every time someone goes in, it receives a lot of press coverage. "

I think I read somewhere that most skydiving accidents are from low pulls. The chances of death go way down if you pull your chute above a certain height (like 5,000 feet rings a bell).

-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [timbasile] [ In reply to ]

Nov 11, 18 7:54

Post #11 of 23 (1502 views)

Yeah, I wish they would have kept the frame of reference consistent, too. I couldn't compare one stat to the next.

-----------------------------Baron Von Speedypants
-----------------------------RunTraining articles here:
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...runtraining;#1612485

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]

Nov 11, 18 8:00

Post #12 of 23 (1498 views)

The thing about cycling is that you're completely at the mercy of automobile drivers.

If you encounter drunk/distracted/bad driver, you're odds are probably pretty dismal.

Self-driving cars could be a game changer for cycling though.

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Nov 11, 18 15:09

Post #13 of 23 (1432 views)

BarryP wrote:

"Skydiving, I knew that wasn't as dangerous as people think. I jumped in the military (static line and free fall). It's all about your technique and making sure your equipment is squared away. If both are tight, and you don't have a heart attack on the descent (and I know of one case where that happened to a tandem jump instructor who died in air and took his student with him... they landed in water and the student drowned), you should be fine. It's just that every time someone goes in, it receives a lot of press coverage. "

I think I read somewhere that most skydiving accidents are from low pulls. The chances of death go way down if you pull your chute above a certain height (like 5,000 feet rings a bell).

Exactly. The higher up you pull the more time you have to come up with a solution to your problem. I give all the credit in the world to those Airborne guys (static line jumps at something like 500 ft.) and the HALO guys (seriously HIGH altitude jump, seriously LOW altitude chute deployment). Simply amazing.

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Nov 11, 18 21:35

Post #14 of 23 (1335 views)

Back when I jumped standard opening height was 3000 feet. And yes you could probably call me a retired BASE jumper I have one BASE jump off the new River Gorge Bridge. Which technically makes me a baSe jumper, since I only jumped off a Span and not a Building, Antenna, or Earth.

I miss YaHey

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [timbasile] [ In reply to ]

Nov 12, 18 4:26

Post #15 of 23 (1297 views)

timbasile wrote:

What's the frame of reference they're using?

"1 in 1 million chance of dying each time you go running"

Is very different than

"Of the people that run, during their lifetime 1 in 1 million will die as a result attributable to running"

I suspect it's the second one, but that means that something like base jumping (where you wouldn't necessarily do it every day) is on a different scale entirely vs something like running, which some people do daily.

Even take something like cycling. If I commute 2x per day, 5x per week, for 40 weeks per year, 30 years out of my life, then I've cycled 12,000 trips. If the 1 in 120,000 risk is "per trip" then my real lifetime odds are 1 in 10. I suspect its 1 in 120k lifetime though (but these sorts of infographics aren't always so clear)

Yeah people drop dead from heart attacks during exercise at a much greater rate than 1 in a million. I'd have to look it up but I think it's about 1 in 10k runners will drop dead every year while running.

And since the chance of that happening is much greater when you're running vs. just sitting on the couch, I'd say that is attributable to the exercise.

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [ThisIsIt] [ In reply to ]

Nov 12, 18 5:20

Post #16 of 23 (1264 views)

ThisIsIt wrote:

timbasile wrote:

What's the frame of reference they're using?

"1 in 1 million chance of dying each time you go running"

Is very different than

"Of the people that run, during their lifetime 1 in 1 million will die as a result attributable to running"

I suspect it's the second one, but that means that something like base jumping (where you wouldn't necessarily do it every day) is on a different scale entirely vs something like running, which some people do daily.

Even take something like cycling. If I commute 2x per day, 5x per week, for 40 weeks per year, 30 years out of my life, then I've cycled 12,000 trips. If the 1 in 120,000 risk is "per trip" then my real lifetime odds are 1 in 10. I suspect its 1 in 120k lifetime though (but these sorts of infographics aren't always so clear)

Yeah people drop dead from heart attacks during exercise at a much greater rate than 1 in a million. I'd have to look it up but I think it's about 1 in 10k runners will drop dead every year while running.

And since the chance of that happening is much greater when you're running vs. just sitting on the couch, I'd say that is attributable to the exercise.

That might be true people drop dead because of exercise. But isn't it possible that those that don't exercise drop dead from a heart attack at an even greater rate?

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [FishyJoe] [ In reply to ]

Nov 12, 18 6:27

Post #17 of 23 (1237 views)

FishyJoe wrote:

ThisIsIt wrote:

timbasile wrote:

What's the frame of reference they're using?

"1 in 1 million chance of dying each time you go running"

Is very different than

"Of the people that run, during their lifetime 1 in 1 million will die as a result attributable to running"

I suspect it's the second one, but that means that something like base jumping (where you wouldn't necessarily do it every day) is on a different scale entirely vs something like running, which some people do daily.

Even take something like cycling. If I commute 2x per day, 5x per week, for 40 weeks per year, 30 years out of my life, then I've cycled 12,000 trips. If the 1 in 120,000 risk is "per trip" then my real lifetime odds are 1 in 10. I suspect its 1 in 120k lifetime though (but these sorts of infographics aren't always so clear)

Yeah people drop dead from heart attacks during exercise at a much greater rate than 1 in a million. I'd have to look it up but I think it's about 1 in 10k runners will drop dead every year while running.

And since the chance of that happening is much greater when you're running vs. just sitting on the couch, I'd say that is attributable to the exercise.

That might be true people drop dead because of exercise. But isn't it possible that those that don't exercise drop dead from a heart attack at an even greater rate?

Yes, that's why we recommend exercise to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). Basically the chronic adaptations to exercise reduce CVD (and a number of other diseases as well) to a much greater extent than the increased transient risk of having a heart attack during the exercise. The latter also varies by how good of shape you're in. If you're in good shape your risk of having a heart attack might double while exercising vs. not exercising whereas if you're really out of shape in might increase 100 fold.

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]

Nov 12, 18 7:01

Post #18 of 23 (1217 views)

Base jumping's 1 in 60 is really beaten by climbing above 6000m in the Himalayas, where you've got a 1+ in 10 chance. I expected a bit more lethal chance for scuba.

Gnothi Seauton.

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [BarryP] [ In reply to ]

Nov 12, 18 11:21

Post #19 of 23 (1170 views)

BarryP wrote:

"Skydiving, I knew that wasn't as dangerous as people think. I jumped in the military (static line and free fall). It's all about your technique and making sure your equipment is squared away. If both are tight, and you don't have a heart attack on the descent (and I know of one case where that happened to a tandem jump instructor who died in air and took his student with him... they landed in water and the student drowned), you should be fine. It's just that every time someone goes in, it receives a lot of press coverage. "

I think I read somewhere that most skydiving accidents are from low pulls. The chances of death go way down if you pull your chute above a certain height (like 5,000 feet rings a bell).

I wouldn't say low pulls are really on the radar. The overwhelming majority of rigs have and Automatic Activation Device (AAD) that will deploy your reserve chute automatically if you pass through a set altitude while also exceeding a set decent rate.

The majority of deaths are under perfectly functioning canopies where the person (usually very experienced) gets killed during a high performance landing or turns too low to the ground. There are certainly other categories - canopy collisions, low cutaways, etc - but most seem to occur during landing.

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [Twotter] [ In reply to ]

Nov 12, 18 11:27

Post #20 of 23 (1167 views)

Have done static line jumps from 3000 feet and felt it was pretty reasonable in terms of the risk factor. I told my kids when they are off the payroll I want to do some proximity jumps, squirrel suit stuff. However, after watching a number of videos and doing a little research the urge has left me somewhat. It seems MOST of those guys die. A short documentary had a lady that married one guy she met in the sport, he died, then she married another guy, and he died too. Most of her friends had died.

this list is was pretty eye opening in the number of guys with tons of experience still passing away.

https://en.wikipedia.org/...e_to_wingsuit_flying

Will just stick to Scuba and Cycling and take my chances.

Last edited by: ACE: Nov 12, 18 11:29

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [ACE] [ In reply to ]

Nov 12, 18 22:01

Post #21 of 23 (1087 views)

ACE wrote:

Have done static line jumps from 3000 feet and felt it was pretty reasonable in terms of the risk factor. I told my kids when they are off the payroll I want to do some proximity jumps, squirrel suit stuff. However, after watching a number of videos and doing a little research the urge has left me somewhat. It seems MOST of those guys die. A short documentary had a lady that married one guy she met in the sport, he died, then she married another guy, and he died too. Most of her friends had died.

this list is was pretty eye opening in the number of guys with tons of experience still passing away.

https://en.wikipedia.org/...e_to_wingsuit_flying

Will just stick to Scuba and Cycling and take my chances.

All that experience and still passing away (nice way of saying biting the big one)? That tells me the sport is inherently dangerous no matter what. And maybe there's just some things we weren't meant to do or aren't adapted for. Seems to me that doing a poor imitation of a flying squirrel might be one of them. ;-)

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [Twotter] [ In reply to ]

Nov 12, 18 23:15

Post #22 of 23 (1081 views)

Twotter wrote:

BarryP wrote:

"Skydiving, I knew that wasn't as dangerous as people think. I jumped in the military (static line and free fall). It's all about your technique and making sure your equipment is squared away. If both are tight, and you don't have a heart attack on the descent (and I know of one case where that happened to a tandem jump instructor who died in air and took his student with him... they landed in water and the student drowned), you should be fine. It's just that every time someone goes in, it receives a lot of press coverage. "

I think I read somewhere that most skydiving accidents are from low pulls. The chances of death go way down if you pull your chute above a certain height (like 5,000 feet rings a bell).

I wouldn't say low pulls are really on the radar. The overwhelming majority of rigs have and Automatic Activation Device (AAD) that will deploy your reserve chute automatically if you pass through a set altitude while also exceeding a set decent rate.

The majority of deaths are under perfectly functioning canopies where the person (usually very experienced) gets killed during a high performance landing or turns too low to the ground. There are certainly other categories - canopy collisions, low cutaways, etc - but most seem to occur during landing.

I would thought that near 100% of them would have occurred at the exact moment of landing. :-/

Re: Your Chances of Dying Ranked by Sport and Activity [satanellus] [ In reply to ]

Nov 13, 18 4:25

Post #23 of 23 (1045 views)

They left out wingsuit jumps. I bet that's really high.

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