6 Dangerous Activities to Avoid if You Don’t Want to End Up in the Emergency Room

Updated on December 16, 2025
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You don’t have to be a thrill-seeker to end up in the emergency room. There are actually many activities that can lead to severe injuries, and most people are not aware that these activities are dangerous until they get hurt. A lot of the injuries that people sustain doing activities like the ones in this guide are not even sure that they are severely hurt at first, which can delay their treatment and can impede their ability to seek settlement or legal action related to their injuries.

One of the reasons that people don’t file insurance claims or take legal action after a severe accident is that they don’t know the answer to the question “how long can shock last?” Psychological shock is actually quite common, and it can lead to delayed action, which can make it hard for people to get the settlements or the medical care that they need to truly heal from their accident.

In many ways, it is a better idea to just avoid these activities so that you do not get hurt and have to struggle to heal or worry about getting a settlement to recover.

Dangerous Activities to Avoid

1.     Bicycling

Believe it or not, riding a bicycle can be a really dangerous activity. This is especially true if you don’t wear a helmet when you are on a bike. Fractures, head injuries, and severe back injuries are all commonly linked with riding a bike.

Biking requires that you pay attention, wear a helmet, and don’t exceed your skill level. Mountain biking and other forms of riding off smooth surfaces are more likely to lead to injuries, but any time you are on a bike, you need to use care. Children can also be hurt riding bikes due to all the same poor decision-making with regard to bicycles that adults sometimes make, so helmets and cautionary warnings from adults are important to their long-term well-being when enjoying this activity.

2.     Riding Motorcycles

Even if you observe the right safety equipment and best practices when riding a motorcycle, the risk is quite high that you will be severely injured. This is one of the most common reasons that people wind up in the emergency room, and in many cases, the injuries they have sustained are very severe. Motorcycle injuries can change people’s lives, and not for the better.

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3.     ATV Riding

ATVs are almost as dangerous as motorcycles. ATVs are often ridden by people of all ages as well, which can increase the risks associated with riding them. Children and adults can both ride these vehicles, and anyone can be hurt riding this kind of moving vehicle. Many child fatalities happen when kids are allowed to ride ATVs that are intended for adults. Many people also ride their ATVs without a helmet, which can increase the chances that severe injury can occur.

4.     Injuries Related to Use of Exercise Equipment

Going to the gym is a healthy thing to do, but if you get hurt because of using equipment incorrectly or due to accidents that can occur when you are doing things like lifting weights, you might be severely injured. Strains and sprains are common but not that serious in most cases. However, torn ligaments and tendons or torn muscles can be much more serious and can take time to become problematic enough to require surgical intervention.

5.     Skateboarding, Riding a Scooter, or Using a Hoverboard

These kinds of fun devices can lead to falls, which can mean fractures, severe soft tissue injuries, and spinal injuries. These kinds of problems can impact children as well as adults, making this a leading cause of injury for many groups of people, and also something that can lead to severe long-term health problems.

6.     Sports

Sports of various kinds can lead to serious injuries. Even backyard basketball, football, or soccer games can cause broken bones, soft tissue injuries, and combinations of injuries. Since this kind of thing is often considered really fun and lighthearted, many people don’t take their injuries seriously enough and wait to get care until things have progressed and become quite serious.

Why do People Struggle After These Kinds of Accidents?

When you have been hurt while engaging in these kinds of activities, you might not realize just how serious your injuries really are. Many people don’t collect insurance information from the other people involved in their accident or even get witness or contact information for these people because they don’t know that they are seriously hurt.

Over time, as the shock wears off and the injuries really start to be painful, people realize that they are going to need surgery or ongoing treatment to recover from their injuries. This can lead to a sudden need to collect insurance information, try to track down witnesses, and secure legal counsel.

It is a good rule of thumb to be sure that you collect all of these details from people at the time of your accident, just in case. You might need to secure a settlement and legal counsel for your accident so that you can recover from your injuries. If you didn’t take the time to collect any information associated with the accident, it will be very hard to do this.

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Avoid Activities That Can Lead to Severe Injury

Be sure that you are always using the utmost care when engaging in the activities in this guide. You should be sure to wear a helmet and take care to avoid dangerous areas where injury might be more likely. The more careful you are, the less likely it is that you will get severely hurt. That being said, you can sometimes suffer accidents related to your favorite activities.

Be sure that you document the accident, collect information from the people around you, and go seek medical attention as soon as possible. Doing all of these things will help immensely if you need to open a claim or if someone was negligent and caused you to be hurt.