Risk: Why Smart People Have Dumb Accidents - And What We Can Learn From Them

A safety expert reveals why few of us are as careful as we think we are, and what we can do about it. The modern world can be a dangerous place, filled with fast cars, smartphones, new drugs, and thrill sports. Meanwhile, we humans are as fragile as ever. In fact, after a century of steady improvement, injuries and accidental deaths are on the rise. Steve Casner has devoted his career to studying the psychology of safety, and he knows there s not a safety warning we won t ignore or a foolproof device we can t turn into an implement of disaster. Careful! is a user s guide to our injury-prone minds. It helps us understand why we do things like insist on the fat-free salad dressing but then text and drive. Casner explains the psychological traps that can lead us to the scene of an accident. They re the same whether you re a pilot, a Hollywood stuntwoman, a parent, or the owner of a clogged dishwasher you re trying to fix with a screwdriver. Then Casner shows us how and when the injuries happen, so we know exactly what we should really be worrying about. Casner s book helps us keep our fingers attached in the kitchen, our kids afloat at the pool, and our teens safe behind the wheel, and shows us many other ways we can take control of our own safety and get through the day in one piece. From the Hardcover edition. "