The 20 Everyday Items Most Likely to Hurt You

Special Report

Published: December 4, 2021 7:00 pm

Nobody wants to get injured, and manufacturers don’t want to injure people — if for no other reason than that America is a very litigious society. But accidents happen, often in the home and often by items we use every day. (Even smartphones can be dangerous. Here are 25 of the most preventable fatal selfie accidents around the world.)

To identify the top 20 injury-causing items, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed survey data from CouponFollow, an online search engine that surfaces popular coupons. The site analyzed the 2020 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System data (the most recent data available) and compared it with the results of a survey of 1,001 respondents selected using the Amazon MTurk platform, performed in 2021.

The No. 1 injury-causing products on the list, surprisingly, are beds and bed frames, which caused almost 20,000 injuries (primarily to the face, head, and neck) in 2020. Who would have thought? Where do you feel safer than in your bed? And yet, short of deploying to a war zone, it looks like the most dangerous place you could possibly be. (Can you imagine how dangerous it must be to get into bed in a war zone?)

Click here to see the top 20 everyday items most likely to hurt you

It might be less surprising to learn that bicycles and accessories are the No. 2 injury-causing products. If you’ve ever felt vulnerable cycling in city traffic, it might be for a good reason. But that’s quickly followed by another stunner: Chairs — which caused almost 8,700 accidents in 2020 — are more dangerous than knives, at slightly over 7,700. “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight” is an old expression, but nobody has ever suggested bringing a chair instead. (These are the 25 most dangerous jobs in America.)

At No. 15 we have jewelry. Fashionistas be warned! Some necklaces might be called chokers for a reason. And at No. 16 sits toilets, which caused more than 3,000 injuries in 2020. When you have to go you have to go, but just be careful.