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Hi @Loraine , I wanted to put your mind at ease some. 99.9% of string breaks happen at the tuning peg as the result of fatigue. The sting gets bent around the edge of the peg and as a result of the bend, integrity is compromised. When a sting breaks its energy is dissipated on the horizontal plane and causes the broken part to meet the seated part with the body of the string looping on itself and then the active end springs up and around not with the force of the break but by the spring in the wire itself. If you were tuning up and had your eye down on the string itself by the bridge you may get poked in the eye with all the force loaded on the string. If your head is above the headstock and not in line with the strings there is as much risk of the string hitting you as being struck by lightening and probably less. The second type of string break happens as a result of bending the strings. This action causes rubbing on the fret and the weakness develops where the rubbing occurred. This break is a mid string break and usually breaks as the bend is being executed. This live end trajectory is less predictable but it will never go toward you face under load. The spring back may if your face is close the the fretboard but it will not hit you with the force of the load. This is also avoidable as there are signs that this type of wear is occurring. I will defer to analysis by @dr_dave . Mine analysis is from energy models that I believe I understand but only tested anecdotally. Dr_Dave probably made the models.