I think many people do unwise things and when it doesn't kill or maim someone, it 'confirms' for them that it is 'safe'. That happens for as many years as it takes for tragedy to strike. Unfortunately, stopping to 'advise' someone nowadays could be fatal for you. Be safe.I immediately removed the discharge chute and affixed the cover onto the hole on the Ryobi ZT480e. So many times when I first moved here, I stopped when I saw people mowing with discharge chutes up and advised them to close them, as they could kill someone. Idiots have no idea.
...and dog poop. I require my renters to pick up ALL the dog poop prior to mowing as I allow pets in my rentals. Nothing worse than dog poop on mower tires.
Raise your deck to at least 3” if not more. cutting your grass short only makes a mess and looks bad. And throw away the discharge guard.
I measured my deck height from the ground it's 1 1/2.
I hope that's to the bottom of the deck and not the blades. If that is the blade height and your grass isn't a creeper, you're scalping the lawn.