>In the most part, it’s believed these deaths are a long string of tragic accidents, which are typically put down to too much alcohol or drug use.
>Such tragic deaths are pretty common in any other city where there is a large waterway. In the same time period, Amsterdam saw 88 drownings. Meanwhile, in London around 250 people a year are pulled out of the Thames.
Either canalpusherlad is branching out big time, or it's just the human gene pool cleansing itself.
>>31837 > In the same time period, Amsterdam saw 88 drownings.
This actually surprises me. Anyone drowning in an Amsterdam canal who didn't fall through the ice while suicide ice-skating would have to have rocks tied to them - the sheer population of canal-side houses and house boats means that unless you're a total ninja someone's going to see you tip yourself off your bike and into the murky depths. By contrast you could take a walk down most canals in the UK and stab twenty different people without ever being seen because they're generally fucking isolated and desolate places.
Basically I think this conspiracy goes all the way to the top.
I was thinking almost the opposite - the sheer number of roadside km in Amsterdam mean the chances of you falling in relative to Manchester should be much higher.
I've failed to find figures on any of it though.
If you fall into cold water, you instantly enter a state of shock. You involuntarily gasp for breath and lose the ability to make co-ordinated movements. You can't effectively shout for help, you can't effectively swim and if you try you'll just drown faster. The only way to survive is to fight your instincts, float on your back and wait for the shock to subside; if you don't, you've got a window of just a few seconds before you disappear under the water. Someone can be actively watching you and not realise that you're drowning until it's too late; if they jump in to try and save you, they'll die in the same manner.
I don't think anybody seeing a person in a canal in Amsterdam would think to himself, oh look, the lad has gone for a recreational swim.
I would imagine that schoolchildren in Amsterdam are taught the perils of falling into one of the city's many canals. So it's probably mostly inebriated tourists who fall in accidentally.
I have Dutch mates who've fallen through the ice while skating on the canals as kids and none of them froze up or drowned. Also I don't think the canals, on an average day, are as cold as all that. It's not like falling off a ferry in the North sea - the canals are in direct sunlight (even if it's only 4-5 hours a day of it in winter) and they aren't that deep. I don't imagine they're exactly pleasant to take a dip in outside of high summer but unless it's deep mid winter I don't imagine they're that cold either.
>>31860 > I don't think anybody seeing a person in a canal in Amsterdam would think to himself, oh look, the lad has gone for a recreational swim.
IDK lad, the cloggies are quite mental. During the summer they're all out on the river and on the main canals in overcrowded boats and I'm sure a fair amount get pissed and fall in.
>>31848 I imagine a lot of people fall in - I should do a quick google search but the number of bikes they dredge out of the canals each year is massive. I'm just sceptical that such a high number of these incidents lead to accidental drownings in a city where the canals are so heavily populated and everyone is pretty well aware of water safety.
Then again whenever I think about dying in Amsterdam I always associate it with getting my throat cut by a dwarf in a red coat, so who knows.
>>31865 > but the number of bikes they dredge out of the canals each year is massive.
Took this photo myself some 15 years ago. Seemed like a good haul.
Much like in Manchester, most of those deaths will be late at night and involve lone men who have been drinking. Water doesn't have to be ice cold to induce shock - you're at risk in any water below 15°C.
Falling through ice is much more survivable than falling into cold water, because a) the ice rarely gives way completely and b) broken ice still has a significant degree of buoyancy. If you've got something to grab hold of, you'll probably keep your head above water, make it through the cold water shock phase and regain the ability to control your breathing and make purposeful movement. You're still going to struggle to self-rescue, but people rarely go skating alone at night.
>Falling through ice is much more survivable than falling into cold water
It all depends on the circumstances. If you break through the ice in chest deep water, arguably you have a good chance of survival. But what frequently happens when people break through in deep water is that they get trapped under the ice sheet beyond the opening that they fell through, and then they panic, lose orientation, and drown very quickly. It's also why scuba diving under ice is so dangerous and can only be done with a rope or tether and somebody above the ice assisting you.
>>31867 > You want Venice for that, not Amsterdam.
I'm just happy someone got my reference. I thought that'd be a bit obscure but trust Britfa not to disappoint.
> Much like in Manchester, most of those deaths will be late at night and involve lone men who have been drinking.
You're right, I suppose. If you'd been drinking enough and you managed to steer your bike into a relatively uninhabited part of the canal at say 3am then I could see things going wrong. Eighty-eight people doing that is a lot though. Personally I blame them hipsters on the bikes with no breaks; get too pissed to remember to peddle backwards to stop and you're fucked.
>>31947 Looking at that map, if you wanted to see total despair up close why bother going all the way to Manchster to kill someone? Just spend half an hour walking around Huddersfield.
