A hiker in Arizona fell to his death this week after trying to take a selfie near the edge of a cliff.
The accident happened on Monday in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix, Arizona. 21-year-old Richard Jacobson was camping with a friend at the Flatiron Trail summit in Los Dutchman State Park, when around midnight, he approached the edge of the cliff in an attempt to take a selfie with the lights of Phoenix in the background. Tragically, Jacobson lost his balance and fell over the edge to his death. His friend called 911 at approximately 12:45 am, and Jacobson's body was found and recovered later that day.
A study in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care found that between 2011 and 2017, at least 259 people died in the process of taking selfies. Of those 259, most were between the ages of 20 and 29 and male. The most deaths occurred in India and Russia, while the three most common causes were drowning, being struck by a vehicle, and falling from heights. The study found that the risk significantly decreased beyond age 30. Sadly, the true number is likely higher than 259, as many such deaths go unreported.
Lead image by Doug Dolde, public domain.
17 Comments
Hey, even mountaineers with decades of experience fall to their deaths pretty regularly. It's dangerous out there!
Yep, people slip and fall in their own showers and die.
They even die when taking a selfie in their showers, after hiking big mountains!!! Hahaha
I'm going to try and take a selfie when having a shower on a mountain.
I would rather do what I love without the dying bit.
Gravity can be quite unforgiving.
"...when around midnight, he approached the edge of the cliff..."
- Darwinism in action
You beat me to it! Midnight? Near a cliff's edge? Nah son!
I think articles like this are posted just so people like us can leave comments. While I hate to be unkind toward the deceased, this accident was as avoidable as it was tragic. And I would love to see that very last selfie...
I think these stories (hopefully) serve as cautionary tales to the photographic community. They remind me that no picture is worth it. Safety should be the number one priority.
Disappointed that it took eight whole posts before someone popped up with the obligatory "Darwin" reference. Very clever, but usually it is post 3 or 4 . Pay attention people!!
It’s not the selfie or falling off the cliff at midnight that gets you. It’s the sudden deceleration when you hit the ground.
So you mean he should have accelerated instead?
Surely Google and Apple, with all the tracking built into their phones and software, could alert you when you're backing up too close to that cliff - and disable the selfie mode on the camera - or at least just call 911 for you when your vertical velocity suddenly increases. But I suppose these guys would just go deep into Settings and disable "warn on dangerous selfies".
R.I.P.
It's sad he died. It would have been worse if he survived after falling 700 ft., tho.
I came here for the comments, and it did not disappoint 🤣