2002 Darwin Awards
Vote Now!
In the next few weeks, I will post the last few nominees from 2002. After I tally your votes, I'll rank the top contenders, and announce the yearly winners! Here are synopses of some top nominees.
¨ Fir Kills
Tree Trimmer
England | A tree trimmer decided to save time, and throw the pruned branches directly into a fire he built near the base of the tree. Predictably, the tree caught fire, putting an end to further time-saving innovations.
¨ What's That
Sound?
Kansas | A man whose vehicle broke down on I-35 was struck and killed by a train while calling for help. The train engineer spotted him standing on the tracks, holding a cell phone to one ear and cupping his hand to the other ear to block the noise of the train.
¨ Wounded Wire
Bites Back
Pennsylvania | Daniel was practicing his marksmanship by shooting at electrical insulators, whose function is to hold electrical wires aloft. Eventually the shattered targets were no longer able to do their job, and a high-voltage wire fell to the ground, sending Daniel to his shocking demise.
¨ Wrong and
Wronger
Ukraine | A man was walking his dog, when a Police Academy cadet pointed out that dogs on a public street must be leashed and muzzled. The men began to argue, until the dog owner pulled out a military hand grenade and threw it to the cadet's feet. His well-trained dog immediately fetched it back, and man and dog met the same messy fate.
¨ Bees 1,
Humans 0
Brazil | A farmer decided to burn a beehive out of his orange tree. He protected his head from bee stings by sealing a plastic bag tightly around his neck.
His worried wife found him dead a few hours later. He had forgotten to put breathing holes in the bag.
¨ Cable Car
Star
Italy | A 53-year-old Glasgow tourist used a mountain climber's snap hook to attach himself to an unused cable car cable, and attempted to slide down a mountain. Unable to defeat the force of gravity, the man accelerated out of control and proceeded to bash his way 200 meters down the cable before impacting a pylon.
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