This is why BIC biros have that little hole in the cover

It's for your safety.

We wouldn't even hazard a guess at how many BIC biro covers we've chewed through in our life, they never lasted longer than a day. See, Simon Cowell does it too (he chewed it to bits later). The cover itself has a little hole on the top and we never really thought about why it was there until we saw this piece on Rachfeed. Apparently the little hole on the cover isn't there to stop ink drying on the nib or for air pressure relief, it's there to SAVE YOUR LIFE! Yeah, the hole is designed to "allow the passage of air if someone accidentally swallows it and it blocks their windpipe." Christ. Safe chewing, everyone.