Live and learn. If you have the capacity to learn, and continually apply those lessons going forward, you're likely to keep on living. If you over-estimate your abilities or under-appreciate risks, things can - and often do - go sideways pretty quickly. Whether it's find-yourself adventures or texting while driving, it often boils down to what degree of practical common sense a person possesses. Geniuses can be "idiots" too - a Mensa membership isn't a guarantee you won't walk distractedly into Manhattan traffic while cogitating on cold fusion.
Then there's always a sub-conscious death-wish that can account for a lot of these how-could-that-happen tragedies. Personally, I think the more alienated or anti-social a person is, the greater the likelihood of an early death.
