Darwin says, "Initially I had accepted this into the archive, but while reading the news reports, I learned that a man had been convicted of murder in the case. While I can and do disagree with the verdict (both men were enjoying themselves immensely and whooping it up) nevertheless, the legal system says another man was responsible for this death, therefore I can't call it self-inflicted. No Darwin Award."

Weblinks: thisisbristol.co.uk, bbc.co.uk

A Bristol father-of-two, Mark Hollister, was killed when his bike hit a drain cover and he was thrown off. What makes this a Darwin (or honourable mention, as he was already a father?) rather than a run-of-the mill road tragedy, is that he was being towed by a car, driven by his friend, Jonathan Atkinson.

Both men had been drinking (although, not to excess; Atkinson “thought he had consumed about four cans of Strongbow over the course of the evening”), and Hollister “had probably been consuming cannabis”.

Following their social evening, Hollister persuaded Atkinson to tow him up the hill from Atkinson's house to where Hollister lived.

Bristol Crown Court heard that Mr Hollister had one hand on his handlebars and one hand on Mr Atkinson's car as he was pulled along at a speed of about 25mph.

A dog walker was a witness to the Darwinism in action: “He said he could see a man holding onto the car and both men seemed to be quite enjoying the experience and were whooping and there were shouts of excitement. He was appalled by what he saw and he described it as unbelievably stupid and highly dangerous.”

But things went badly wrong, the court heard, when the wheel of Mr Hollister's bicycle hit on a drain cover and he fell to the ground on the B4005 Blackhorse Hill.

He was later taken to Frenchay Hospital by ambulance with a severe brain injury and doctors were unable to save him.

This tragic case conforms to the Darwin rules by: Reproduction He is now out of the gene pool, meaning that he can produce no more offspring Excellence This was an immensely stupid thing to do! Self-Selection The reports state that this was Hollister's own idea Maturity Hollister was aged 37 at the time of the incident Veracity This has been reported in both the local and national press.

Submitted on 05/20/2009

Submitted by: JoT
Reference: BBC News 19th May 2009; Bristol Evening Post 20th May 2009

Copyright © 2009 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Given the description by the witness I think this is worthy of a DA. Thanks for sending it in!

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
When someone AGREES to tow someone in this idiotic fashion, that makes them BOTH responsible! Thanks, JoT!

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