The dangers of household furniture

snibgo
Posts: 4604
Joined: 29 Jun 2010, 4:45am

The dangers of household furniture

Post by snibgo »

It used to be said that beds were more dangerous than bicycles. I have to report that is no longer the case. However, falls from furniture as a whole killed more people than cycling injuries, in the UK in 2009.

Mortalities:
Pedal cyclist injured in transport accident: 113
Fall involving bed: 100
Fall involving chair: 46
Fall involving other furniture: 2
Total falls from all furniture: 148

The pedants among you might argue that people spend more time on furniture than bikes, so the risk per exposure is lower for furniture, but why spoil a good story?

From "Mortality statistics: Deaths registered in 2009" (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/ ... /dr-09.pdf), table 5.19.
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Nice stats though :)
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
User avatar
Mick F
Spambuster
Posts: 56359
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by Mick F »

snibgo wrote:The pedants among you might argue that people spend more time on furniture than bikes, so the risk per exposure is lower for furniture, but why spoil a good story?
Wonderful :D :D :D
Mick F. Cornwall
User avatar
hubgearfreak
Posts: 8212
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 4:14pm

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by hubgearfreak »

it's not just that we spend less time on our bikes than we do in bed or on a chair. just about everyone uses beds and chairs but there's less of us that use bikes.

however, you'd have to be a right old pedant to point that out :oops:
User avatar
hubgearfreak
Posts: 8212
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 4:14pm

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by hubgearfreak »

downfader wrote:Bed... thats what I need.. :|


be careful :D
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by [XAP]Bob »

snibgo wrote:The pedants among you might argue that people spend more time on furniture than bikes, so the risk per exposure is lower for furniture, but why spoil a good story?


Not sure - how long do you spend getting out of bed each day - maybe 5 seconds? (Assuming that all falls where as a result of trying to get out of course)

I reckon that even with the large number of non cyclists we still all average more than 5 seconds on the bike each day...

Old DfT stats '99-'01 suggest ~40miles a year average on the bike - at 15mph that's 2hours 40 minutes = 9600 seconds or 26 seconds a day (let's round that to 30 shall we?)

So unless you spend more than 30 seconds a day getting out of bed, you are at more risk getting out of bed than (transport) cycling...
Last edited by [XAP]Bob on 9 Jan 2011, 8:39pm, edited 1 time in total.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
downfader
Posts: 1074
Joined: 8 Feb 2009, 10:09pm
Contact:

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by downfader »

[XAP]Bob wrote:
snibgo wrote:The pedants among you might argue that people spend more time on furniture than bikes, so the risk per exposure is lower for furniture, but why spoil a good story?


Not sure - how long do you spend getting out of bed each day - maybe 5 seconds?

I reckon that even with the large number of non cyclists we still all average more than 5 seconds on the bike each day...


Actually thats true.. its the time travelled thats the problem. When you're IN the bed you (usually) aint moving (ahem), but getting in and out takes less time than a ride... :lol:
User avatar
[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by [XAP]Bob »

downfader wrote:
[XAP]Bob wrote:
snibgo wrote:The pedants among you might argue that people spend more time on furniture than bikes, so the risk per exposure is lower for furniture, but why spoil a good story?


Not sure - how long do you spend getting out of bed each day - maybe 5 seconds?

I reckon that even with the large number of non cyclists we still all average more than 5 seconds on the bike each day...


Actually thats true.. its the time travelled thats the problem. When you're IN the bed you (usually) aint moving (ahem), but getting in and out takes less time than a ride... :lol:


Sorry - just updated my post ;)
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
snibgo
Posts: 4604
Joined: 29 Jun 2010, 4:45am

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by snibgo »

Good point about the exposure risk. Being in bed doesn't kill us (even though that's where most of us will die), but getting in and out might, and that action is more dangerous than cycling.

Another obvious thought occurs. How do people die from falling out of (or even into or across) their beds? I reckon they must bang their heads. So we could save 100 lives a year if we insisted that before they go to bed, everyone should put on a ..., well, shall we say "protection".
downfader
Posts: 1074
Joined: 8 Feb 2009, 10:09pm
Contact:

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by downfader »

snibgo wrote:Good point about the exposure risk. Being in bed doesn't kill us (even though that's where most of us will die), but getting in and out might, and that action is more dangerous than cycling.

Another obvious thought occurs. How do people die from falling out of (or even into or across) their beds? I reckon they must bang their heads. So we could save 100 lives a year if we insisted that before they go to bed, everyone should put on a ..., well, shall we say "protection".


If their room is anything like mine there will be numerous trip hazards. :oops:
Ellieb
Posts: 905
Joined: 26 Jul 2008, 7:06pm

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by Ellieb »

Of course, the main problem with using these stats as an assessment of risk is that most of those dying in these situations are the very elderly or the very young. So comparing their risk with cyclists is a complete waste of time
ANTONISH
Posts: 2967
Joined: 26 Mar 2009, 9:49am

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by ANTONISH »

Ellieb wrote:Of course, the main problem with using these stats as an assessment of risk is that most of those dying in these situations are the very elderly or the very young. So comparing their risk with cyclists is a complete waste of time

This elderly cyclist recently fell out of bed. I was staying with my Sister and the bed was higher than my own. Waking up with cramp I put my foot to the floor which wasn't where I expected it to be. Hence a fall onto a tiled floor- no injury fortunately :)
User avatar
hubgearfreak
Posts: 8212
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 4:14pm

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by hubgearfreak »

Ellieb wrote:Of course, the main problem with using these stats as an assessment of risk is that most of those dying in these situations are the very elderly or the very young.


not the very young, they can be dropped from bed height entirely unhurt. you'd need to create a fall that's far higher than even the tallest bed to break one i reckon. i base this on having two sons, one's 6 and the other 19 months and they keep trying to break themselves on beds, on stairs, off chairs & etc.
MartinC
Posts: 2127
Joined: 10 May 2007, 6:31pm
Location: Bredon

Re: The dangers of household furniture

Post by MartinC »

If you analyse these stats on the basis of distance travelled then the furniture risks are appaling compared with cycling.
Post Reply