I well recall hearing about Sarah's death in the Sandy River crossing near Ramona Falls. That accident was not due to the glacial temperature of the water, but rather it happened immediately after extremely heavy late summer rains that doubled or tripled the volume of water in a day. As I recall it, she was unable to free herself from her pack when she was swept away by the current, got caught in a logjam and drowned.

I appreciate your point about very cold water being FAR more dangerous than merely chilly water. But what is safe is situational. You seem to argue that removing one's socks and insoles, then lacing one's shoes back on to cross a stream is horribly dangerous, because the shoes will be too loose and it is "stupid" ever to recommend it. What about lacing the shoes just a bit tighter? That works for me.

It seems to me that what you are doing is akin to crying wolf, when you speak as if every stream crossing is equally dangerous, and one should always act as if the water were waist deep, silty, a few degrees above freezing, with a powerful current trying to sweep you to your death, then your advice will soon be discounted when others discover that 99.9% of what they experience doesn't fit these criteria.

Certainly, those kinds of stream crossings exist, but they should never be attempted if there is any reasonable way to avoid them. Nor will wearing sandals somehow make such a crossing safer in any realistic sense.