Darwin Awards

Darwin Awards 2014
Better than the Academy Awards!

Nominee No. 1: [ San Jose Mercury News]:
An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriends windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut.

Nominee No. 2: [Kalamazoo Gazette]:
James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, MI, was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-type truck." Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns' clothes caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft.”

Nominee No. 3: [Hickory Daily Record]:
Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear.

Nominee No. 4: [UPI, Toronto ]:
Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death.? A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the buildings windows to visiting law students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner of the firm Holden Day Wilson, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was "one of the best and brightest" members of the 200-man association. A person has to wonder what the dimmer members of this law firm are like.

Nominee No. 5: [The News of the Weird]:
Michael Anderson Godwin had spent several years awaiting South Carolina's electric chair on a murder conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.

Nominee No. 6: [The Indianapolis Star]:
A Dunkirk, IN man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzleloader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriff's investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54 caliber muzzle-loader that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gunpowder ignited.

Nominee No. 7: [Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario]:
A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his death. "Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheelchair when the accident occurred," said Inspector Darcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. "It appears that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony," Honer said.

Finally, THE WINNER!!!: [ Arkansas Democrat Gazette]:
Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday.Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog-catching trip. On an overcast Sunday night, Poole's pickup truck headlights malfunctioned.
The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the ..22 caliber bullets from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge.
After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exited the pavement, and struck a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended.
Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off, or we might be dead," stated Wallis
"I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened," said Snyder.
Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia Poole (Poole's wife) asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck?
Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole did in fact effectively remove himself from the gene pool.

hahahaha My favorite awards to read about =) thanks for posting!!

I have been in the auto repair business for nearly 45 years, and I have never seen a vehicle that had a replaceable headlight fuse, I call bullshit.

I have been in the auto repair business for nearly 45 years, and I have never seen a vehicle that had a replaceable headlight fuse, I call bullshit. Originally Posted by carguy1989

Well also automotive fuses typically aren't cartridge fuses (cylindrical fuses), automotive fuses tend to be blade type fuses. So I'm not sure how a .22 would fit. Furthermore I'm not sure how he'd get shot in the nuts considering no barrel. If an unchambered round goes off it's the brass that's going to go flying everywhere, not the bullet. So I don't believe brass from a .22 is going through the vehicle firewall and into his nuts.

http://www.delcity.net/store/AGC-Fus...FZQlgQoda1wAYg

http://www.walmart.com/c/kp/22-short-ammunitions

It would fit.

Well also automotive fuses typically aren't cartridge fuses (cylindrical fuses), automotive fuses tend to be blade type fuses. So I'm not sure how a .22 would fit. Furthermore I'm not sure how he'd get shot in the nuts considering no barrel. If an unchambered round goes off it's the brass that's going to go flying everywhere, not the bullet. So I don't believe brass from a .22 is going through the vehicle firewall and into his nuts. Originally Posted by oesman

Up until the early 80's the fuses were round and inside a glass tube. A .22 short would have fit in a fuse block.

I love reading stupid criminal/darwin award type posts/articles/books too.

http://www.delcity.net/store/AGC-Fus...FZQlgQoda1wAYg

http://www.walmart.com/c/kp/22-short-ammunitions

It would fit. Originally Posted by lookn4boobies

Up until the early 80's the fuses were round and inside a glass tube. A .22 short would have fit in a fuse block. Originally Posted by carguy1989

So in 2014 the guys had a 80's vehicle, fine I can buy it since it sounds like they're rednecks.

However it still doesn't resolve the second issue of the fact that there's no chamber/barrel to create pressure so the brass casing would be what goes flying, still can't see it puncturing the firewall

Also I just figured I'd check snopes and:

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/fuse.asp

Good detective work, oesman.

never said it was true....just said the bullet would fit.

never said it was true....just said the bullet would fit. Originally Posted by lookn4boobies

A 22 would MAYBE fit if you had a 35+ year old vehicle in 2014. You're very technically right in a very small way. Whatever makes you happy man. Real life odds of a .22 fitting in as a fuse in 2014. Zero.

EDIT: Pulled up the SAE specs and here is the deal. The base/recommended fuse length is 31.8mm (1.250"), that's for a 20A fuse. There are low amperage fuses are available in shorter lengths which are standardized to: 15.9mm, 19.1mm, 22.2mm, and 27.0mm. With 30A fuses going up to 36.5mm. Chances are for a "headlight fuse" you wouldn't have a short little low amperage fuse, you'd have a higher amperage fuse, like a 31.8mm or higher in length.

This means both a .22 short (17.1mm length) and .22 LR (25.4mm length) don't fit any of these fuse dimensions. So not only would they need a 35+ year old vehicle. They'd need the fuses boxes to be capable of holding an under/oversized fuse in their particular fuse holders.

Furthermore add the fact that per SAE all these fuses need to be 6.35mm in diameter and you'll see that one end of the .22 short and .22 LR is too small and one end is too big. So again... would need a very specific fuse holder capable of dealing with this.

Or essentially as I said above, the chances of this fitting/working in 2014 are ZERO.

Also... pretty much any redneck in real life would just take the fuse from something else on the vehicle that they don't need. Like the radio or interior lights or dash, etc... You know.. the obvious thing. Instead of trying to cram an ill-fitting .22 in a fuse holder that isn't meant to hold it.