| CDs spin quite a bit faster than records when playing. They spin even faster in a CD-ROM or recordable drive. This can put a lot of strain on even an undamaged disc.
A cracked or otherwise damaged disc can be severely weakened. Even discs that merely contain lots of scratches can become unstable. Recordeable discs with off-center or damaged labels will be unbalanced and be affect by spinning more than a balanced disc. Spinning these discs at a high rate of speed can cause them to actually break apart in the device.
While you probably won't be injured by a disc breaking apart (it should be contained by the device), it could damage the player or drive. Even if the drive isn't damaged by the flying bits of CD, cleaning out all those broken pieces would be very difficult.
Ocassionally, a new and otherwise undamaged disc can break apart in a high speed drive. Sometimes a hidden flaw in a disc can weaken it. This is very rare, though increasing speeds on CD recorders may increase these occurances over time.
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