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We can think of close calls as occasional reminders from the universe of how fragile life can be — that if you had zagged instead of zigging, you could’ve gotten seriously hurt, or worse.

These people would know, as they shared photos of their near misses that could’ve easily turned disastrous. Here they were, narrowly escaping a trip to the ER, even a visit from the Grim Reaper, and posting their stories online for the entire world to see.

The stories on this list are rather riveting, as you will see as you scroll through.

#1 My Sister’s Tires

My sister continued to drive despite the bouncing until the point that it was bouncing out of her seat. Can’t believe her tire didn’t blow out cause her to wreck.

#2 Crazy Awesome Beautiful Campsite. Storm Came In And Made My Hair Stand Up

BETLJCE:
Isn’t that foreshadowing of lightning thinking about touching u?

#3 Neighbors Leaving Lit Candles Unattended Outside Apartment Doors

Not even sure how to approach this situation. It feels very unsafe to leave candles lit on a carpeted floor.

While some of the stories on this list are complete accidents that blindsided people, many are potentially perilous situations caused by human error. As noted in a January report by the Occupational Health & Safety magazine (OHS), 80-90% of serious workplace injuries are caused by misjudgments or unsafe behavioral choices.

#4 This Stupid Thing Is Real And I Almost Drank It

#5 Man Catches And Handles An Extremely Venomous Yellow Bellied Sea Snake, Unaware Of What It Is

While not the most venomous snake in the world, the yellow-bellied sea snake still has venom nearly as potent as a coastal taipan. And there’s no specific antivenom for this species. So you’ll just have to hope beaked sea snake antivenom is available (which has been tested as effective for the yellow belly), which is only produced in Australia. So I think it’s safe to say this wasn’t just engagement bait.

#6 Encountered One In The Wild Today. Look Closely, You’ll See The Driver. He Almost Rear Ended Me Twice. I Got Out After The Second Time And Snapped This Beauty

unknown:
What goes through these people’s minds when they decide to drive like that? “Hm, I can’t see well, but I can kinda see the road, so that’s enough for me!” Like, seriously, it takes less than 5 minutes to get your car rid of snow most of the time.

The report also noted that 96% of all workplace accidents begin with unsafe behavior. Likewise, it highlighted that despite improved regulations, smarter equipment, and better data systems that companies provide and implement, careless workers can still hurt people.

#7 They Tried Cutting The Concrete Floor With No Water Or Ventilation. Great Idea, Guys

My manager said it’s fine, it’s just concrete.

#8 It’s Coming Out Of My Faucet On My Newly Bought Home. These Faucets Saw Little Use Before I Bought The House

I’m guessing a fungus, but maybe just some kind of bacterial culture, too?

SeaPotatoSalad:
Jesus. Turn your hot water setting on your boiler to the max, unscrew the sieve bit off all your taps, and flush them all in turn. And don’t drink that water.

#9 How Lucky I Am To Be Still Alive? Red Sea, Egypt

JorikThePooh:
This is a textile cone snail, Conus textile. All cone snails are venomous, and this species is one of those known to be dangerous to humans. [Fatalities] are rare, about 30 are known to have occurred among all cone snail species, but likely underreported. So yeah, it was a bad idea to just pick it up, especially underwater, where it was very likely alive. It could have [ended] you.

“Human behavior rarely exists in isolation. Workers make decisions within systems shaped by deadlines, fatigue, supervision quality, training design, and organizational culture,” an excerpt from the OHS report reads.

#10 Mold In My Bathroom And My Parents Are In Denial

My family and I moved into our house like 12 years ago, and ever since we got here, there’s been this mold on the ceiling of our bathroom. I’ve tried telling my parents this is a really concerning amount of mold, but they refuse to believe me and get VERY upset when it’s brought up. Please confirm this is as bad as I think it is, so I can show them. Or am I overreacting, maybe??

Ill-Television8690:
Your best bet is probably doing some research on the effects of repeated mold exposure (maybe even specifically as it affects growing children) and trying to persuade them to understand that you’re being set up for health emergencies.

#11 My Parents Came Back Home To This. Almost Burned Their House Down With This Concave Mirror

Dang. Luckily, my parents came home before real disaster struck.

#12 Made My Morning Coffee. Almost Sucked On This

OmegaNewma:
They are called earwigs and are actually beneficial agricultural insects since they prey on pests and are harmless to humans.

Close calls should never be ignored just because no one got seriously hurt. Instead, they should be viewed as a lesson learned to prevent a potential disaster in the future.

This is why Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson advocates a company culture that treats near-misses as a “goldmine” of learning opportunities to be openly discussed rather than avoided.

#13 Is This Poisonous Hemlock?

Yesterday I ate a tiny piece of the root, thinking it was a carrot. Probably about the size of a piece of Mike and Ike candy, maybe a little smaller. It was sweet and delicious. I thought it smelled like a carrot at the time. I picked a much larger piece today, but figured I should verify. Not eating anymore!! Central Indiana

Edit: Don’t be me!! Identified, went to ER. Somehow survived eating Poisonous Hemlock! 10/10 don’t recommend.

#14 Slipped While Cutting Something Next To A Live 14-2 Cable

It was so bright. So unbelievably bright it hurt at first.

#15 Danger?

As I’ve been digging through the old medical bottles I’ve been lucky to land, this curious one caught my eye. Anyone able to shed some light on this? For context, it’s from the estate of a gentleman who was a pharmacist approx 85-100 years ago. Also, as I sort and prepare these bottles for sale, what’s standard practice regarding bottles that are still full? Examples could include something like formaldehyde, or something less poisonous like castor oil.

flipfloppery:
I used to work with HF:
DO NOT OPEN IT. DO NOT TOUCH IT.
A spill on just 2% of your skin surface WILL cause cardiac arrest through the blocking of calcium channels in your heart muscle.
It is not a strong acid (doesn’t disassociate fully in aqueous solution due to the strength of the H-F bond), but it reacts with most things.
A spill on your skin won’t initially be noticed, partly because it is not a strong acid, and partly because it blocks sodium channels that allow you to feel pain.
When I used this, it was in a fume hood… while wearing a clean room suit, a PTFE-coated suit, nitrile gloves with fluoropolymer gloves over them, goggles, and a face shield.
I cannot stress how dangerous this is; even a slight accident with this can easily be fatal.

“In organizations like Toyota, where they recognize the richness of the almost-failure and recognize that those are free learning opportunities, people are more likely to speak up, and everyone learns,” Edmonson said.

#16 Good Morning To You Too, Mother Nature

In Upstate South Carolina. Finally got cell service. No power, internet, barely any cell. This happened around 7:30 AM on Friday. A 300-year-old giant oak totalled our car. Thankfully, not our heads.

#17 Is This Raccoon Rabid? I Had To Move It, And I Got Bit And Bled

Boa-in-a-bowl:
If you got bitten, get to the ER for post-exposure treatment NOW. Rabies is a guaranteed sentence if it advances to the point of being symptomatic, and it is one of the most horrific ways to go imaginable.

#18 Rat Poison On Top Of Water Softener

We’ve been here a little over a year, and I’ve literally not seen one sign of rodents. I can only guess the last owner maybe saw one in the garage and went nuclear putting poison everywhere. I think I’ll replace this unit myself and call a pest professional for a service to prevent issues with the new unit.

#19 Came Home To My Mom Boiling Bleach To Clean A Pan Of Some Burnt Sugar, Creating A Highly Toxic Gas

I took the pic after she drained the bleach.

Deleted:
Sir, ma’am, Helen Keller, whatever the hell you are. Your mom just accidentally waged chemical warfare on anyone in the house. This is not mildly infuriating; this is insane.

#20 Family Refuses To Acknowledge That The Lint Trap Needs Emptying

This is a minimum of five loads worth of lint. How do they look at this and think, “Yeah, that’ll sort itself out”?
It took ten seconds to clean.

TankApprehensive3053:
Explain to them that clothes will dry faster when the filter is clean. And trapped lint is highly flammable and causes house fires.

#21 Ate These 40 Minutes Ago And I Feel Weird. Should I Be Worried?

I took two bites of them raw and cooked the rest. They tasted decent and the texture was good, but I don’t feel good. I swore I found Blewit and was excited.

Intoishun:
OP confirmed it was bitter, so this could be Cortinarius iodes as others have pointed out. That would be slightly more of a concern, as there are some suggestions that it is toxic.
Do not eat anything you cannot positively ID yourself.

#22 They Probably Know, But Still

For those who do not know, it is a stone fish. It has spines on the back of it that are highly venomous.

#23 Rule Of Nature: If It Has Bright And Unique Color Don’t Touch It Because It’s Most Likely Venomous

ItsMeLunden:
Certified nerd & animal lover here, looks like a Portuguese or pacific man o’ war. It’s not a true jellyfish (same phylum), and it’s made up of a colony of separate organisms. They do deliver venomous stings, and they’re VERY painful, so if you see one pls don’t touch.

#24 Avoided A Big Accident

Probably needed face protection.

#25 Almost Stepped On This Fella At Work

The water moccasin. Dangerous and aggressive as well as not afraid of people. They’ll let you step right on em before you know they’re there. I see about 2 tons of these a day, but mostly banded watersnakes, corn snakes, indigos, king snakes, garters, grass snakes, and 1 rattlesnake so far the past 6 months.

He was next to my driver’s-side door; I noticed him as soon as I opened the handle. Half way hiding behind my wheel.

#26 The Blade In Our Potato Chipper Broke Off And Got Lodged In A Fry

It managed to get fried and served to a customer unnoticed until he almost ate it. Thank god it was sticking out enough for him to see it before he could sue us.

#27 Please Don’t Do This

Observed an electrician working underneath a 15,000-pound generator still on the crane hook. Thankfully, nothing happened, but this was stupid.

#28 Glowing Stove Pipe

First fire in ~4 months. Mostly pine. Started slow and then loaded it up after an hour. I’ve NEVER had the stove pipe glowing like this! It freaked us out a bit. And upstairs got pretty smoky (but the smoke didn’t seem to be coming from the stove… but?? Through the chimney wall??).
Also, for context, we have a chimney liner, but almost all of the vermiculite insulation in the chimney has fallen over the last few months. Any insight here??

cornerzcan:
Hot glowing stove pipe and smoke that didn’t seem to come from the wood in the stove – shut the air to the stove down and CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!!!!!

#29 Orange Glow

We started smelling burnt wire, and I noticed that my breaker box was glowing orange. Also, there is one breaker that tripped when I plugged in a small space heater. My room gets cold, and I was using it to supplement my heat pump/aux heat. I turned off the heater, and the orange glow went away.
A little while later, I noticed the smell again and saw that it was glowing orange again. My aux heat was running. I turned off the aux heat, and the glow went away.

#30 Am I Overreacting For Telling My Boyfriend This Is A Fire Hazard

Came into the room to find my boyfriend was drying a fleece blanket that was still damp from the dryer on top of the electric space heater. He said it’s not that big of a deal because “wet things can’t catch on fire”. He’s telling me this isn’t a fire hazard and that I’m overreacting.

#31 Growing On The Banks Of The River

I’m worried it’s giant hogweed, but I don’t think it is. Grows tall (I am 6 feet 4, although it’s on the bank and I am in the water)

justmeinthenight:
Hemlock water dropwort, or Oenanthe crocata, very poisonous. Used to be used to euthanise elderly people and execute criminals. Causes muscle spasms and pulls the face into a creepy Sardonic smile. Don’t eat, please!

#32 My Oldest Woke Me Up Early In The Morning To Tell Me His Ceiling Fan Had Fallen Off

This happened in the morning. My oldest woke me up, telling me his ceiling fan had fallen down. Confused and startled, I went to his room and saw this. I’m so lucky and incredibly grateful that neither of my boys got hurt, just startled out of their sleep.

My husband texted our slumlord to let him know what happened. Not only did our slumlord say he’d get it fixed, but he also said he’d have someone investigate to see what really happened, hinting that it was somehow our fault or our sons’.

The guy who installed the new ceiling fan told us the reason the old fan came down because it was held up by only ONE screw in the ceiling. One freaking screw was holding up the entire fan!

#33 Subcontractor Tried Using Topsoil Completely Full Of Huge Chunks Of Broken Glass, Rusty Metal, Ceramic, And Other Hazards In Our Yard

We have to have part of our yard fixed, where construction completely tore it up. This is an area where my 5-year-old and friends play and run around in bare feet. The contractor said they would put down clean topsoil and then hydroseed over it. Luckily, I walked out before the hydro seed went down and noticed some broken glass. Stopped them from spraying the hydro seed and walked the area (which isn’t very large). The pile of large broken pieces of glass, ceramic, rusty metal, bottle caps, and other debris in the pictures is what I found on TOP of the soil in a short time searching (who knows what is still under the top layer, but it cannot be any better).

Nothing in that picture is plastic; it is all sharp stuff. Immediately got in contact with the contractor. Don’t know what is going to happen yet, as this all just happened, and the subcontractor left right after I discovered all this glass (and stuff) mid-job.

#34 I Swear I Never Knew

I couldn’t tell you how many times I’d thaw vacuum-sealed salmon for the weekend, plans change, and then I’d eat it the following weekend. Randomly asked Google today — apparently it’s 1–2 days max after thawing, otherwise it becomes a little spa for botulism.

#35 Oops

A Daily Mail article and a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Economy-Scratch9515:
Poisonous… so if you ate them, you’d probably not live to file the lawsuit.

#36 At The Bottom Of My Chicken Broth Carton

I was cooking and went to use the rest of my chicken broth. That thing spat out some mucus; it looked like that nasty glob. It smelled horrible, so I took a pic and immediately threw it away, but I made sure to squeeze the bottle to make it come out. It looked like a tea bag. Just an FYI to refrigerate any broths you open and go use within a couple of weeks. Otherwise, you’ll get a moldy, stinky broth.

#37 Removed My Oven After I Kept Smelling A Burning Smell, Found This

#38 Just Found Out My Favorite Spoon Is Pewter

Just did a lead test on my favorite spoon after I was sitting back with a pal, eating a grapefruit with it, and he goes, “Hey, bro, no way that thing is healthy to be eating with.” He was right.

#39 Hired A Contractor To Remodel My Master Bathroom

Is this ok?

hungryepiphyte:
You hired a cremation specialist.

#40 College Lab Full Of Unmarked Chemical Containers

In Lincoln, Nebraska, a call came in about a broken thermometer, and it turned into a 2-month-long lab pack. There were several containers of trinitrobenzene and picric acid in the basement as well.

#41 Girlfriend Always Lights A Candle Near Dried Leaves

#42 Is This Insane?

Recently got back from a holiday in Indonesia. We saw a young local girl no more than ten years old yoinking these bad boys. Is this insane, or are they actually not as dangerous as everyone says they are?

We tried to explain they are dangerous, but she spoke no English and ran off after putting them down…

Huang_Fudou:
These produce a toxin that could easily end multiple people, and their envenomation is so small that you might not even feel it. But you can survive if you get to a hospital, and also, they rarely bite. This is also a very stupid thing to do.
Also, I think when they are bright blue, they are stressed, and these are not, so it’s probably ok. Still stupid though.

#43 Don’t Power 12 Amplifiers From 1 Strip

Something like 9000 watts of amps in total, not including the networking and video gear. It was all running normally.

toomanyscooters:
This should have tripped out long before it even got warm.

#44 Is This A Problem? I Think My House Is Shifting

There are a couple of doorways that are like this; it’s been getting worse for a while…

#45 We Found A Cute Hat For My Dog In The Woods

This photo was taken 3 years ago; my dog is perfectly fine and was perfectly fine after we took the picture. That said, I wasn’t aware of the toxicity of the plant; everyone on the trip was putting their head under the flower, and I did the same for me and my dog, big mistake, I know that now. I will never let my dog touch a plant again.

#46 My Mate’s Cream That’s, Apparently, “Still Good For Cooking If You Scrape Off The Mould

Gagged, took a picture, gagged again. Chucked about 95% of his fridge out, then ordered pizza.

In fairness, he had zero idea it was this disgusting. When I mentioned mould, he said to scrape it off before he saw it.

#47 Dialysis Venous Chamber Missing A Filter That Prevents Blood Clots From Entering The Patient’s Blood Stream, Causing Stroke Or Heart Attack

Inspection is needed normally to check for air bubbles on the filter, not to check if it exists or not.

#48 I Was On My Way To College And It Fell Right In Front Of Me

#49 A Friend Sent Me This From Somewhere I Used To Work. I’m Glad I Got Out Of There

This place rightfully scared me. I saw more close calls there than I could even keep track of.
And yes, I did tell him he needs to stay the hell out of there.

#50 Orange Mineral Giving Off Smoke

I picked this up on a beach on the east coast of Scotland. When I got it home, I realised it was smoking and giving off a burning smell. On closer inspection, there is a white compound that breaks off easily. Any idea what this might be? Good to know if it’s naturally occurring. Probably the last time I’ll be so cavalier about picking something up without knowing what it is!

jomat:
Around the Baltic Sea, but also the North Sea, phosphor remains from bombs of the world wars are found on the beaches and are mistaken for amber, and cause injuries because it starts burning. So now that you know that and you can take some precautionary measures, you could have some fun with that one.

#51 I Had A Close Call Today

I found this during today’s trek in the Mala Fatra mountain range in Slovakia. I’d been eating different, familiar berries throughout the day (wild raspberries, blueberries), and they tasted delicious, better than anything you can buy in the shops. So when I saw this appetising-looking berry, I thought, “Why not try it?” Like an idiot.
Well, I did try it: I broke the skin and tasted just a tiny drop of juice. It was sweet, very inviting. Luckily, before I popped the whole thing into my mouth, something made me pull out my phone and use Google Lens. Sure enough, up came a warning about the highly toxic nature of deadly nightshade.
A lot of spitting followed.

It’s been a few hours since then, and I haven’t had any symptoms beyond an unusually dry mouth (which could just have been dehydration after a long hike). But I’ve definitely learned my lesson: I won’t be stuffing random, unfamiliar berries or plants into my mouth ever again.

#52 The Chromebooks My School Has Us Use. Almost Every Single One Is Like This

Might be hard to tell, but the battery is stolen, and one of them had the bottom plastic beginning to crack.

unknown:
Yeah, I’d just put it at the main office and tell them a bulging battery is a fire hazard.
This is one reason I miss user-replaceable batteries. If that happened, anyone could simply remove it and still use the laptop bot only with the AC adapter (since it would now have no battery), so you could at least offload your data, if nothing else.

#53 Magnesium Shavings On Fire From Welding Sparks

Fire… Fire!!! Magnesium puts out an insane amount of heat. Not much you can do but let it burn out.

SauceOnTheBrain:
Might want to invest in a class D extinguisher

#54 I’m Stuck Taking Off Linoleum Adhered W Tar Like Glue Over White Oak Floor

baltimoresalt:
The black mastic likely is asbestos. Wear a mask and get a HEPA vacuum to thoroughly clean up. Investigate a solvent to remove. Do not sand. If you scrape, keep it wet.

#55 Garage Floor Separated From The Basement

The homeowner cut joists in the basement in Louisiana, the block wall and small footing collapsed, causing the garage floor to begin separating. Has gradually been separating more and more over the past 2 weeks. The block wall was approximately 15 feet tall and 20 ft long. What are some suggestions in this situation?

#56 I Fell Asleep With My Kettle On High. I Woke Up To This

I’m lucky I didn’t cause a fire. It was ruined.

#57 This Candle My Sister Made Caught My Kitchen On Fire. Why?

My sister makes and sells candles in dough bowls, and I love them. But literally 30 seconds after lighting this, the wax caught on fire and kept getting bigger and bigger. It ended up catching onto that box of milk bags and coasters in the background and ruined them.

It happened so fast that I had to yell at my boyfriend to wake up and help. He quickly grabbed a wet towel and threw it over it to make it stop. My sister had mentioned that she was using a new wax and that might have caused it, or maybe she put too much scent in it. Her candles have always been great, and this is the first time this has happened. I’m honestly more upset that the bowl is ruined now because I love collecting them. Does anyone have any idea what could have caused this, so it doesn’t happen again??

My sister doesn’t have a business or anything, just sells them to friends and people at church. My candle was the first that she made with this new wax, so no one else got it but me.

And yes, I’m an idiot for taking pictures instead of putting it out, but I didn’t know that it was going to get worse. I just wanted to take pics to show my sister so she would know.

#58 Looking For The Best “Anti-Vibration” Gloves. Any Recommendations?

Earlier this week, I was using a Bomag tamper for the first time to do backfill in a 10-foot deep trench to pack down the dirt while someone else dumped it in with a track loader. It was like a roller coaster in the trench, and some piles were 4 to 5 feet high. Trying to work the tamper up those piles inch by inch was a bear, and the tamper beat the hell out of me, especially my hands. I assume it was partly due to user error, but what can I do to protect my hands? After running the tamper for a few minutes, my hands and wrists were in some of the worst pain, and I ended up having to run the machine for nearly 2 hours (with frequent breaks because I was exhausted and my hands hurt so much). At the end of the day, I had bruises on my legs and arms, and I felt like an arthritic old man. Are there any gloves you would recommend that could help reduce the vibrations from the machine?

UngaBunga004:
Dude, where the hell is the shoring? Get out of that trench.

#59 In Search Of Gold 2026

c33m0n3y:
Hey brother, I wish you the best of luck in the gold search, but please be careful going into vertical cut pits over 5’ deep, especially if there is water anywhere. Material may seem stable one minute and can suddenly slough off into your pit, with big entrapment risks. A lot more work to do, but sloping your pit will go a long way. There are also portable support systems of excavation jacks that, paired with some vertical boards to push against the pit walls, can also greatly reduce the cave-in risk. Stay safe out there.

#60 My Honey Is Foaming Alot For Some Reason

I literally don’t know why this happened.

FunVermicelli123:
Put that outside now, otherwise it’s going to explode, and you will find fermented honey all over your house for 20 years.

#61 Landlord Self Installed Water Heater

I first noticed the gas water heater leaking downstairs, and then I noticed a bigger issue…

The whole setup was trashed after I painstakingly begged our landlord to get an actual plumber and not (and I quote) “a guy who’s actually an electrician but his dad was a plumber so…”

#62 Was Lifting The Scissor Lift Out With The Fork Lift, Something We Do Every Month Or So. This Has Never Happened Tho

And after we got the forklift out of the way, we noticed that, for some reason, someone put a manhole cover there, which was only rated for 2,5t. The new one is rated for 40T.

#63 Ember Managed To Burn Its Way Across Overnight Without Flaming Up

JakDobson:
Lucky you. I’ve seen a few houses and an apartment building burned down by charcoal grills on the back deck.

#64 The Hotel I’m Staying In (Malta) Is Running An Ozone Generator Where People Sleep

This thing has been running for hours. This is a health hazard, especially in a hallway with no windows and no ventilation, next to people’s bedrooms. I told the manager, and they don’t seem to give any care about it. Turned it off myself. If I see it on again, I’ll throw it down the balcony.

gigglegenius:
That’s insane; they don’t know how to use them. Someone could have died or gotten hurt. I built high voltage applications like these in the past, and just a tiny bit of ozone in the air makes you sneeze/cough a bit. It’s an electric burning smell. In high concentrations, it will aggressively attack your lung lining, and it will get progressively worse until you suffocate. They use them to get smells out of rooms, but there is a strict protocol to handle these situations, and it means not breathing any of it in.

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