Will selfie seats stop youngsters from falling from cliff edges?

Posted on 19 February 2019

Ireland is looking to introduce ‘selfie seats’ in a bid to save tourists and photographers from injuring themselves or dying at dangerous insta-worthy locations while taking photos.

Us adventurous travellers can appreciate great views, especially from great heights. We generally love to capture them on camera as well, and want to get the perfect shot, sometimes putting ourselves in weird and even dangerous positions. Too many hikers, travellers and bloggers have died in freakish accidents in some awkward and dangerous places, all while trying to get the best snap of themselves at the world’s coolest places.

In Ireland, however, authorities want to take this matter into their own hands. According to Lonely Planet, the Minister of Mental Health and Older People, Tim Daly wants to introduce ‘selfie seats’ in popular, but precarious, tourist areas.

Daly submitted his proposal to Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority of Ireland, for selfie seats or stands to be installed in suitable places around the country. One location it is suggested they be placed is the Cliffs of Moher, where you can see the most beautiful sunsets, but which has been known to be unsafe in the past. The Irishman also thinks selfie seats could be a useful marketing tool to attract more visitors to locations in Ireland.

Unsplash

Just recently, the news has been populated by incidents of tourists dying from falling off high and craggy cliffs and lookout points while standing on dangerous vantage points to take selfies.

In two separate incidents, two 14 year-old girls fell to their deaths in the States. One teen from California fell off a cliff in Arizona’s Horseshoe Bend, and the other from Israel, in Yosemite National Park. A young couple was also recently found by park rangers in the latter location in the popular Sierra Nevada mountains, and a young Australian fell off a cliff in Sydney while watching whales.

All incidents involved the deceased taking selfies on cliff edges, which is particularly dangerous when your back is turned to the pretty view and your sense of balance is off with your arms stretched out in the air. Holding selfie sticks over a rocky cliff edge will definitely mess up your balance, and could send you toppling to certain death.

The best way to approach these situations would naturally be to avoid taking any kind of photo while in precarious positions or situations – but as so many of us enjoy living on the edge, as it were, maybe Ireland has the right idea.

 

Images: Unsplash






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