No-selfie zones needed to stop people dying while trying to get the perfect shot, scientists claim

Researchers have called for the adoption of “no-selfie zones” in tourist hot spots to help curtail an “exponential” increase in the number of people dying while trying to photograph themselves.

Nearly 100 people died taking selfies last year, and bans on snapping pictures on clifftops or where unsuspecting photographers have previously been swept into the sea could prevent future fatalities, researchers from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences write.

Some firms are already working on devices or apps that would recognise people trying to take a selfie while driving, or in areas already flagged as risky, and alert them to the danger, they add.

At least 259 people have “died by selfie” since 2011, according to the Indian researchers, who analysed cases reported in English-language newspapers around the world.

While there were just three selfie deaths in 2011, this had risen to 50 in 2015, and in 2017 – where data only ran to November – there were 93 deaths, the findings published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care show.

“Selfies are themselves not harmful, but the human behaviour that accompanies selfies is dangerous,” the authors said.

“Individuals need to be educated regarding certain risky behaviours and risky places where selfies should not be taken.

“‘No-selfie zones’ areas should be declared across many tourist areas, especially places such as water bodies, mountain peaks and over tall buildings, to decrease the incidence of selfie‑related deaths.”

The group set out to investigate whether the rise of the selfie – which was designated “word of the year” by Oxford Dictionaries in 2013 – has led to people putting themselves in harm’s way.

Drowning was the number one killer, responsible for 70 deaths, followed by “transport” deaths (51) while driving or trying to snap a picture with a fast-moving train, then falls (48).

These cases may often involve multiple people, either rescuers who tried to help, or fellow passengers or picture takers – as in the case of the British-Australian couple who fell 30 metres to their deaths in Portugal.

Other deaths involved animals, electrocutions and firearms – where people posing with a gun to their head have accidentally shot themselves. The US was the biggest culprit in these self-shooting incidents as in the case of one Washington resident in 2016.

Teenagers, in particular young men, were at especially high risk from selfie-related deaths, the study shows.

One case reported in the study, a fire in 2016 where it claims 48 were killed, many while standing too close to the blaze while taking selfies, appears to be a misreporting of the numbers injured, but it is still likely that many selfie deaths are likely to be unidentified, or go unreported.

The trend has been found to be a particular issue in India, with many officials already introducing selfie-exclusion zones, particularly around large religious gatherings where people stopping to take selfies could lead to bottle necks and potentially lethal stampedes.

The researchers note that other teams are working on devices or apps which would recognise people trying to take a selfie while driving, or in areas already flagged as risky, and alert them to the danger.

In Russia, where a woman almost died after inadvertently shooting herself while posing for a photo with a gun she had found, Russia’s ministry of internal affairs published a brochure instructing citizens on safe selfie habits.