On January 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to enact an immigration ban, restricting the travel of immigrants from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya. Experts, however, have revealed that the chances of being killed by a foreign refugee in the United States is 1 in over 3.6 billion. By contrast, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has recorded 37 vending machine deaths over the past 17 years. It has put the odds of being killed by a vending machine at 30 times higher than dying from an attack by a refugee/terrorist.
The president’s immigration ban has stranded people at airports and kept family members apart. Vending machines are apparently a much bigger hazard. Two people died by falling soda vending machines in 1995, and one was severely injured that year. The individuals had been rocking the machines, which subsequently fell on them.
Vending machines an ignored danger?
In addition to 37 deaths, 113 people have been injured since 1978 by vending machines. Rocking or tilting the machines were the most common causes. The individuals hurt or killed this way were trying to jar loose a free can of soda or to get money to come out of the machine. The odds of winning the Powerball, at 1 in 192.2 million, are a bit better than this happening, and also much higher than encountering a murderous immigrant.
Manufacturers of vending machines have voluntarily put warning labels on new machines. They’ve also produced labels for about 1.7 million machines that have already been sold. Graphics warn that the machines can tip over; one even says, ”Warning! Never rock or tilt. Machine can fall over and cause serious injury or death.
Vending machine will not dispense free product.”
There’s danger all around
Other than terrorism, vending machine fatalities don’t come close to other causes of death. One is even more likely to be killed by a lawnmower, be struck by lightning, or taken down by a serial killer. The chances of being crushed by a vending machine, however, are similar to those of being shot to death by a toddler.
Beds, bees, and cell phones also pose bigger threats to one’s life than immigrants.
The president’s executive order also doesn’t address other deadlier threats such as dying from a shark attack. One is six times more likely to succumb this way than at the hands of a terrorist. A person is also 29 times more likely to be killed in an asteroid strike, or 129,000 times more likely to die in a domestic shooting.
