I just read a book about sailing alone across the Atlantic. The author did not use a safety line while working on deck. He said fear is what kept him on board, a safety line would make him careless.
Yes, well, who cares about people getting sick as long as the environment is cleaner? 
I will also add ‘child-proof’ caps on medicine. Adults felt more comfortable leaving their medication out and more children were poisoned than before ‘child proof’ caps were introduced.
“Fear” won’t keep rogue waves from forming.
They’re not getting sick from the existence of the bags, they’re getting sick from people’s bad habits (which could theoretically be changed just like we got them to change habits to use the bags in the first place).
Anyway, sick from bacteria = stronger immune system!
bacteria killing soap = stronger bacteria
Regular soap does not lead to antibiotic resistant bacteria. Antibacterial soap and cleaning products may. I trust the best path is obvious.
Well, steering columns used to be designed such that they would impale unfortunate drivers in a car accident. Not razor blades, granted, but having a freaking spear on the dash didn’t seem to do much for safety.
Interesting. I always wondered how that worked.
How so? Does lead poisoning increase aggression or something?
Well, it degrades one’s capacity for impulse control. I’m sure there are plenty of perfectly mellow people with lead poisoning - but if you’ve got a temper, lead poisoning will do you no favors.
Not a dangerous product in the first place, but the original whole-cell pertussis part of the DTP vaccine was replaced by an acellular pertussis vaccine, that uses only parts of the antigenic material. This was to reduce the side effects of the DTP (which were pretty small to begin with, but vaccine developers always want fewer side effects).
The result was a vaccine that seems to provide protect that wanes faster than anticipated. This waning protection (requiring earlier boosters than previous versions of the vaccine), along with the vaccine denialists who refuse vaccines, has contributed to pertussis outbreaks.
Sometimes a safer vaccine is worth the higher risk of getting a disease that probably won’t kill. We will never know of course.
While I agree that safer vaccines are always better, your own quote shows that the whole-cell pertussis vaccine was already safe, and my point that creating an acellular version actually contributed to pertussis outbreaks (that have involved deaths) stands.
They normally mix pertussis vaccine with tetanus vaccine these days. If I get my recommended tetanus booster jab every ten years, with pertussis in the mix, is that good enough to reliably keep my pertussis immunity up?
That’s an excellent question.
Red-light cameras. They bring in revenue like slot machines and increase rear-end collisions under the rubric of increased safety.
Oh, I’ve just encountered one:
Kitchen appliances with power cords so ridiculously short (to avoid people tripping on them) that you have to use an extension cord every time. In my case, it’s a vacuum sealer.
A coworker of mine often points out that, since it’s now illegal here to hold a cell phone to your ear while driving, people tend to text more because it’s not visible from outside the car.
in maybe the past half century electrical codes and practices (USA) tend to being within three feet of a receptacle on a kitchen counter. the cords also in more recent time have been being made heavier. a long or thin code is more easily damaged and then an electrocution hazard.