[Laminar]

Teen Dies After Falling Off Car - Des Moines News Story - KCCI Des Moines

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Officials said a teen died from injuries suffered when he fell off the trunk of a car at a mobile home park in Cedar Falls.
Police said Christopher McCully, 17, of Evansdale, was injured Saturday evening. Police Chief Jeff Olson said he died on Sunday at University Hospitals in Iowa City.
Olson said McCully apparently sustained severe head injuries. Olson said the car wasn't going very fast at the time of the accident.
The incident remains under investigation.

[tooki]

I dunno, I think the steaming-yourself-alive sauna dude is the front-runner.

[turtle777]

I agree with tooki.

That kid/accident story is nothing compared to the sauna idiot.

-t

[Laminar]

Today's...

[Railroader]

He died Sunday, today is Monday. Do the events have to happen the same day as the nomination of the award, or are you saying the nomination for the award is being given today? Details, details, details.

[turtle777]

Oh, I love it. Let's turn this thread into analfest.

-t

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

Oh, I love it. Let's turn this thread into analfest.

-t

Someone's bum is still sore from the last one...

[hyteckit]

Sauna guy wins.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by hyteckit 

Sauna guy wins.

BACK TO THE PWL allcaps

[Railroader]

Technically, even if the sauna guy won, he still lost.

[Spheric Harlot]

More Darwin award material:

Plastic Surgeon Was Texting in Car Before Fatal Crash - Heidi Montag : People.com

Twittering about his dog, he went over a cliff.

Whoops.

[Oisín]

Aren’t both this kid and (at least one of) the sauna guys automatically disqualified from being Darwin Award candidates, anyway? Don’t you have to actually survive to obtain candidature?

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Aren’t both this kid and (at least one of) the sauna guys automatically disqualified from being Darwin Award candidates, anyway? Don’t you have to actually survive to obtain candidature?

Quite the opposite. The point of the Darwin Awards is that someone too stupid to live has removed themselves from the gene pool. The rules have been relaxed since its inception, it used to be they couldn't have any children, either. Then it was changed that you don't actually have to die, so long as the end result is not being able to have children.

[subego]

At least the dog survived.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

Quite the opposite. The point of the Darwin Awards is that someone too stupid to live has removed themselves from the gene pool. The rules have been relaxed since its inception, it used to be they couldn't have any children, either. Then it was changed that you don't actually have to die, so long as the end result is not being able to have children.

Oh. I see. Here I was thinking it was given to people so stupid they ought to be removed from the gene pool.

Shows you how much I keep up with current events, eh?

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Oisín 

Oh. I see. Here I was thinking it was given to people so stupid they ought to be removed from the gene pool.

Shows you how much I keep up with current events, eh?

"Honoring those who improve the species...by accidentally removing themselves from it!"

[ghporter]

On the topic of the original post, it doesn't take much speed, in combination with a little bit of height to produce a really serious head injury. As in life threatening at least. I've treated a young man who fell off of a pickup truck's tailgate going a leisurely 10 MPH-but he fell on his head on pavement and nearly died from the brain injury.

Interestingly enough, the 15-25 year old age range, especially among males, is prime for life-threatening stupidity. Driving too fast, drinking and driving, climbing stuff that shouldn't be climbed, assuming that one is bulletproof, etc. are excellent examples of lack of insight. This insight comes with maturity, and not just the more abstract type either. Parts of the prefrontal lobes of the brain can take until the age of 26 (sometimes more) to fully mature, and of course these are the parts that manage evaluation of risk and judgment. Seems those actuaries at the auto insurance companies were right in singling out young guys for expensive insurance, and with good reason.

But how is "riding on the outside of a car" anywhere near as Darwin-worthy as many of the apocryphal reports like the ".22 caliber headlight fuse," the "I'm going to burn that raccoon out of the storm drain," and others?

[Laminar]

Who said it was?

[Railroader]

I read in a book once that 50% of all falls over 10 feet in height end up in a fatality.

[subego]

I cracked my skull after falling from standing height (I.e. 6 feet). The consensus is I would have died if someone hadn't been around to call an ambulance.

[macaddict0001]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

I read in a book once that 50% of all falls over 10 feet in height end up in a fatality.

Well it must be true if you read about it in a book.

[turtle777]

I wrote a boook about reading a book once.

It must be true.

-t

[osiris]

I enjoy doing stupid things sometimes, not in this case though. One time I had a bad flu and decided to go ahead with a hiking/camping trip in the Adirondack mountains. I loaded up on flu meds and was feeling quite woozy. At around 4000 feet, I slipped and slid about 100 feet through snow and over rocks, nearly going over a cliff with a 1000+ foot sheer drop. I didn't go over, but pulled my back out trying to stop. Damn that hurt... I barely managed to hike back out with the help on my friends. Ended up spending a week on my back. I felt like a fool for giving in to peer pressure.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by subego 

I cracked my skull after falling from standing height (I.e. 6 feet). The consensus is I would have died if someone hadn't been around to call an ambulance.

Same thing here, except I caught myself with my hands before my face went into pavement. The result was one broken arm, another almost broken arm and a half dozen stitches on my chin.

No more than 5-6 feet off the ground. if I hadn't reacted so quickly I have no doubt I'd be missing teeth or perhaps my life from a broken neck.

[macaddict0001]

Originally Posted by osiris 

I enjoy doing stupid things sometimes, not in this case though. One time I had a bad flu and decided to go ahead with a hiking/camping trip in the Adirondack mountains. I loaded up on flu meds and was feeling quite woozy. At around 4000 feet, I slipped and slid about 100 feet through snow and over rocks, nearly going over a cliff with a 1000+ foot sheer drop. I didn't go over, but pulled my back out trying to stop. Damn that hurt... I barely managed to hike back out with the help on my friends. Ended up spending a week on my back. I felt like a fool for giving in to peer pressure.

Reminds me of David by Earle Birney, I've fallen before, but not quite like that.

[downinflames68]

YouTube - The Amazing Race - Watermelon Launch

This?

[turtle777]

^^^

a) it's fake
b) only the watermelon died

-t

[subego]

Originally Posted by sek929 

Same thing here, except I caught myself with my hands before my face went into pavement. The result was one broken arm, another almost broken arm and a half dozen stitches on my chin.

No more than 5-6 feet off the ground. if I hadn't reacted so quickly I have no doubt I'd be missing teeth or perhaps my life from a broken neck.

I broke my fall with my right ear. Scrambled all the bones in there too. It's miraculous I haven't suffered significant hearing damage. Had a couple nasty bouts of vertigo though.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by macaddict0001 

Reminds me of David by Earle Birney, I've fallen before, but not quite like that.

I'll have to read up on this, I'm intrigued. thanx

[Phileas]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

^^^

a) it's fake
b) only the watermelon died

-t

You can tell from the pixels?

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

You can tell from the pixels?

No, common sense.

You don't walk away from an incident like that as she did.
At that speed, a melon is a very hard object. It would have caused severe injuries.

The video is hihgly edited. Just look at her clean face right after.

-t

[Phileas]

I was making a joke.

[turtle777]

I gotta adjust my humor parameters to account for Canadians.

-t

[Doc HM]

I'm liking this one:

Man Looking for Ghost Train Killed by Real Locomotive

I'm imagining the sound of the real train coming and the men looking at each other and thinking "wooah it's true, before realising..."

[turtle777]

Wow, that's a worth contender.

-t

[Chongo]

Ill. man killed trying to steal power lines

WLS 890AM

Posted 10/14/11 12:11 p.m.

ALTON, Ill. (WLS) - Authorities near Alton in southwestern Illinois are investigating the electrocution of a man whose body was found near snipped electrical power lines investigators believe he was trying to steal.

Madison County Coroner Stephen Nonn says 34-year-old Mark Becker of Granite City was found dead early Friday. Investigators believe he died Thursday night.

Nonn says evidence at the scene suggests that Becker made contact with charged overhead power lines after they had been cut from the utility pole.

The coroner says an investigation by Madison County sheriff's deputies and interviews with witnesses "failed to reveal any legitimate or lawful activity in which (Becker) would be engaged involving the utility infrastructure."

Nonn says an autopsy Friday confirmed that Becker was electrocuted.

[subego]

Gov't warns of risk with high-powered magnets - USATODAY.com

"The commission said teens are using the magnets to mimic body piercings, placing two or more magnets on opposite sides of their tongues and then accidentally swallowing them."

[hart]

Ew! I just had a disturbing image of intestines all knotted up and tangled around bucky balls through the intestinal walls.

Blech. >b

And passed the image on to my kids in case they had any moronic impulses to create fake tongue piercings out of magnets.

Similarly we had a little cruise through photos of frost bite as an object lesson in the function of appropriate winter apparel.