Stories can be told of people putting themselves in incredibly dangerous situations on the piers through thoughtlessness, ignorance and just plain foolhardy recklessness. Besides all of the fatal and near-fatal tragedies that have occurred, there have been many injuries on the piers as a result of people falling from the uneven surfaces and slipping on wet and slimy areas especially during periods of high lake levels. Many persons have suffered broken bones, fractures, concussions, bruises, lacerations and other serious injuries. The rocks at the approach to the piers are the scene of many injuries as persons try to cross them to and from the piers. Children get wedged and trapped as they search for caves and hiding places or investigate some of the various forms of wildlife that inhabit these rocks.
Children also climb and play on the brightly colored blue railings lining the channel.
One only has to walk out on the piers to see the potential for injury and tragedy as inline skaters and bicyclists weave through pedestrians and baby strollers at breakneck speeds on what is at best a very poor and hazardous surface. During the winter months people can be seen walking, sometimes with small children on their shoulders, over the ice-caked piers with freezing open water on each side. Most of these aging old structures like the Grand Haven piers were built towards the end of the 19th century to create a deep-water channel for shipping in and out of the various river outlets and to provide a platform for mounting navigational devices such as light beacons, foghorns and eventually radio and radar. The money to build them was appropriated through Congress and they were all built as economically as possible. Over the years they have, except in the most severe conditions, done what they were supposed to do.