Ah yes, simply don't make any mistakes ever ;-P

Fair enough though. I suppose the thing that makes table saws / routers / etc seem safer -- to me at least -- is because they look and sound scary. An untrained novice is much more likely to be careless around a band saw than around a table saw.

None of them sound like the router though. It's a banshee from a nightmare. I don't even like using it when it's mounted.

The router, even when you do all the above, it can jump, it can throw material off, it keeps spinning for a surprisingly long time after you power it off. All these characteristics make it less predictable. You need to understand it at a somewhat deeper level, how much can you cut, what direction to go, what direction is the grain going. You need to hold/brace it understanding that it can be unexpected and has a lot more power than you think. That's what makes it a more dangerous tool. Ofcourse properly used - it's fine.