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I'm genuinely curious, how common were lifelong injuries from unsafe playgrounds? I'm 32, and even the structures I had as a kid are now gone. And those were tame compared to what my parents had. Yet I can't think of anyone that had serious injuries from them. In comparison, I know multiple people that have lifelong injuries they will never fully recover from drunk driving.

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People do have some degree of lifelong injuries from high school football though at around the same age.

I wonder if monkey bars worsen that kind of thing be creating a culture of risk acceptance, making it socially awkward to say "No i won't climb that, no I won't lift that with no hand truck, and I'm certainly not joining the football team".

Rather than teaching people how to manage risk, could it be teaching people TO manage risk as opposed to just rejecting it entirely if it's not necessary?

Weird comparison. Nobody is supporting drunk driving.

No, but it nicely illustrates the contrast between serious dangers we all end up facing and the relatively minor (and likely useful/educational) dangers posed by play structures.

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