Safety is no laughing matter and every safety rule has a sound and grounded reason.
Take "Women and children first" for instance. Your boat is sinking, you need to jump in the water to escape the doom destiny of the sinking ship. Yet you need to make sure you're not leaving a perilous situation for a deadly one.
Thus, you use the women and children as bait, to make sure the waters are clear of sharks.
The sooner you throw them overboard, the more time you have to confirm the safety of your escape route. Common logic.
