10 Interesting Ways Water Can Kill You

Dangerous Driving Conditions

Driving in the rain is potentially deadly, mainly due to slippery roads. As people drive, greasy materials such as oil and lubricants drip from their cars and accumulate on the surface of the road until they’re washed away. The first rain can particularly loosen these greasy substances and create a slippery surface on the road which makes driving very dangerous.

A long and heavy rain can also result in deep puddles on the surface which can cause the car to skim across the water. Or the roads can be covered in small water pools that don’t seem serious or profound until you drive on them and your car spins out of your control.

Furthermore, poor visibility due to heavy rain can also be a threat to drivers, as they become less aware of pedestrians, oncoming cars, and any road hazard. An estimated 3,000 American people or more face death every year from car accidents caused by rain.

Electrocution

You probably don’t know that pure water doesn’t conduct electricity by itself. In fact, it’s the impurities such as salts that enable it to be such an effective conductor.

When salts are mixed in the water, they divide into negative CI ions and positive Na ions, creating that potential for the conductive effect. This dangerously allows an electric current to quickly travel through it and shock the person in contact with the water.

Big currents passing through the human body can make it impossible for the victim to let go of the energized object. Bigger currents can damage the tissues, cause heart failure, and death.

In 2012, in Knoxville, Tennessee, two boys were electrocuted while swimming in a lake because of a boat that was floating nearby at a dock and had frayed wiring which contacted the lake water. Five adults jumped into the water to help the boys but were also shocked.