The accident typically happens on a spring or summer weekend, mostly to men, and the results can be severe: lacerations, fractures and even amputations.

From 2006 to 2013, an estimated 51,151 people were injured while mowing the lawn, and 12,243 of them wound up losing a body part.

In a study published in the journal Public Health Reports, researchers tracked the injuries using a federal government database of emergency room visits. Most of the damage was to the hands and feet, the scientists found. Almost half involved lacerations, and about 22 percent resulted in an amputation.

Eye and face injuries accounted for 1 percent of emergency room visits, and fractures for 22.4 percent. More than 200 people suffered burns from lawn mowers serious enough to be treated in an E.R.