I think that depends on the angle you approach the issue from. Having spent the last three years in Japan after growing up in the UK, I find the general lack of respect towards electricity as a deadly force that is encapsulated in the flimsy plug design quite startling.

While the UK plug design is unwieldy in comparison, it also features a huge number of cleverly designed elements intended to provide the utmost protection to the everyday user.

Put another way, no. of shocks in Japan: 3 in 3 years. No. of shocks in the UK: 0 in 27 years (16 of which were as a child).

How the heck did you get shocked 3 times in 3 years? I grew up in Turkey which has a no extra protections and quite shoddy electrical work all around, and neither me nor anyone I know has ever been shocked.

I really don't see how you could accidentally get shocked that many times unless you are repeatedly violating something that is common sense to everyone else.

Japan may be on the other side of the scale, I also find their plugs look flimsy (as an European).

But the UK plug is just an artefact of the dangerous series circuits in many houses built during copper shortages. Such circuits are dangerous anyway, the remaining such houses should be fixed instead.

There's nothing about ring mains that makes them any more dangerous.

The UK pugs probably are needlessly safe - but so are aircraft and cars these days. I can't see a big campaign to remove earth pins, shuttered sockets, fuses and switches to increase the number of accidents getting much public traction!

But one could see a campaign to have the same plugs as the rest of Europe, perhaps.

They aren't any less safe (especially Schuko ones) to use. The problems are inertia and national pride.

Indeed - the same problems have stalled our attempts to make the rest of europe drive on the correct side of the road.

Exactly, because it's Europe (the majority) that has obviously made the wrong choice on both matters :)

I wonder if the Mu and your plug have the same complicated insides as an Apple iPhone charger. This article was recently posted here: http://www.arcfn.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-teardown-q...

A submission of the tiny, cheap and dangerous fake iPhone charger killed my account 1 month ago, even though it got 140 points (duplicate or linkbait, anyone care to explain?)

  http://www.arcfn.com/2012/03/inside-cheap-phone-charger-and-why-you.html
  http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3903705