2008 Darwin Awards

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

A One Track Mind 2008 Darwin Award Nominee Confirmed True by Darwin (16 July 2008, Italy) Gerhard, 68, was queued at a traffic light in his Porsche Cayenne SUV. Before one reaches the light, there is a railroad crossing, and Gerhard had not let the queue progress forward far enough before he drove onto the tracks. As you might imagine, given Murphy's Law, a train was coming. The safety bars came down, leaving the Porsche trapped on the rails. According to witnesses, it took the driver awhile to realize he was stuck. Finally he jumped from the car and started to run--straight toward the oncoming train, waving his arms in an attempt to save his expensive SUV! The attempt was partly successful. The car received less damage than its owner, who landed 30 meters away. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. The moral of the story? Momentum always wins. MEDIA REFERENCES Jeff comments pithily, "It is advised that you do run toward a train if your car is stuck on the tracks, so that the collision throws the car away from you. In that respect, the gentleman was in the right. The caveat is that you are supposed to run toward the train alongside the tracks, not on the tracks!" Darwin thanks Julie for pointing out, "Porsche Cayenne is not a sports car, it's an SUV! It makes the story read poorly when you know the error..." Reader Comments: "Man did that train pepper that Cayenne!" "Cars are easier to replace than internal organs." "Needs better training." "A dark and twisted example of momentum, and transfer of energy." Awful? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Great? Hate it! Love it! Share DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2012 Woot! Submitted by: Joy Reference: L'Adige (Italian daily paper)

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