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2009 March Rejects
Mushroom Snake
Tacoma woman kills self playing wit
Justice, Middle-East Style
one time to many
Men almost die after drinking, poac
High Voltage Parkour
Woman killed talking on cell phone
Three floors down
Please - wait for the Electrician.
Texas man burned after using lighte
Illiterate?
Two die in high-speed chase
Spear Fishing and Using your Head
TAG - You're Hit
GO death ruled 'misadventure'
To ski or Not to ski...???
Anchors Away!
Drunken stunt driver
FALLS FROM BALCONY
Electricution by gas motor trimmer
Two men killed in apparent drunken
Man dies from sex with a horse
STATE POLICE
This blows your brain...
Blundering Afghan suicide bomber bl
Man dies after bottle mishap
Extreame oops
Shane McConkey dies ski base jumpin
Blundering Afghan suicide bomber
Irish Hitman
The Machines are coming....
no lid for the gas container
The perfect shot
Student Dies after skylight fall
Looks Like A Good Place To Sleep
Woman yakking on phone
Criminal who accidentally shot hims
Man taking pictures dies in Lookout
shooting oneself in the face
indira gandhi pm of india
Blundering Afghan suicide bomber
I am bleeding but I...
Dead Terrorist
suicide bomber blows up 6 associate
Never Pee On An Electric Fence
Limerick shooting filmed on mobile
Pedestrian on Cell Phone walks ints
Lessons On How To Kill A Man
GPS trust
Crime boss is videoed shooting him
Robber crashes getaway car, buses
Old Stud Getting on a Bottle
Bottled up
Bottle Mishap
Death by Soft Drink Bottle
Indonesian Man Killed by Komonos
Man Killed While Being Initiated In
Smile for Death
Payload's in the Breach, Sunshine
I wanted to see what it felt like
Gang leader accidentally blows his
Komodo dragons kill Indonesian fish
Death by "misadventure"
Criminal Kills himself in gun accid
If he had brains he'd be dangerous
take the GO train to Misadventure
Ridiculous Complaints
Gang leader accidentally blows his
Satnav leads to brink of disaster
Gang leader shoots himself
Beverly Giesbrecht
Kid hang himself,
Teen on vacation falls to death
limerick man shows off how to kill
Criminal kills himself in gun accid
Shot Himself by Accident
did you saw that ?
Death by Storm Drain
Limerick's Own
Limerick shooting
Limerick shooting filmed on mobile
Gangster shoots himself at party
Own GOAL
Death by Drain
Russian Roulette cleans up Limerick
Limerick gangster shoots self dead
Irish criminal shoots himself
Irish criminal shoots himself
Execution Show and Tell
Gangster dies after gun accidet
Check Methane levels with torch
Make sure the gun isn't loaded
Crime boss shoots himself in head d
Man shoot self in head.
Criminal demos how to kill someone
Gang Member Shows how to kill
Three killed after sawing through o
How's the View Now?
Gangster who shot himself 'by accid
Heres how you shoot someone!
How not to kill yourself
Irish Gangster Accidentally Kills
Gang member kills himself
Gangmember kills himself
DUMB CRIMINAL
Man shoots himself in head
You can't beat theory
Man Demonstrates Handgun Skills
Shell Shock
Man kills self during gang gun demo
Gangland idiot
Russian Roulette for one
Gangster who shot himself 'by accid
Self execution style
Bomb 3: Scrap retrievers 0
Blown away
Fatal Fishing Trip
climbed onto locomotive
Pilot crashed twice at same site
Natasha Richardson Ski Accident
They came, they saw, they...blew up
Love Gone Wild
Bird On A Wire
Dumb Judge Jailed for lying
Drunken worker suffocates
Pa. man sets himself on fire, dies
INCHES FROM DEATH
man in toilet
Dumb Place to Sleep
Honorable Mention- Firecrackers
Man Suffer Burns
While riding bike in Bethpage, man
Robbing the Wrong Bar
Burglar bled to death on broken gla
The Death Calls
Percussion Victim
Hide and Seek
Freezing Worker Burned After Riding
bullets and children
Rednecks and power tools
Hot foot
Open gate but locked mind.
Burglar bleads to death
Dan Osman Last Jump
Gravity wins, again...
World Apnea Record Goes to Brazil
Moron bleeds to death
Whizzing Death
Sex Toy Tragedy
Death by two year old son
Self-Selection
Death by Vandilisium
Power tool sex game goes wrong
Closer ... closer ...
Dog Day Afternoon
Me, i can drink anythin
stupid people fucking
The Explosive Mule
Cape Coral man injured after hittin
Broken Glas Is Dangerous
Woman Injured In Sex Toy Mishap
A hot ending.
Bad idea: Hammering bullets
Drink the Kool-Aid kids
Man dies after 12 hours of sex
Old Flame
Minefield Picknick
Not the Brightest Spark on the Crew
Darwin Award to Science
Woman Injured in Power Tool Sex Toy
The drugs don't work
Man Blows Himself up, then Falls to
Minefield Helicopter
Failed Attempt
Honourable mention
Power Tool Sex Toy Encounter
Stanley the power saw
Football supporters are D U M B ! !
Twice Baked
Maryland Sex Toy Massacre
Student stabbed with scissors at Du
Beware the Saw
Minefield BBQ
Bloody Tragedy in Lexington Park
Woman Injured in Power Tool Sex Toy
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Monkey's Revenge
Woman Injured in Power Tool Sex Toy
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Woman Injured in Power Tool Sex Toy
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Sauteed Chef
woman has sex with a sabor saw
Sex Machine - Honorable Mention
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Sex toys and Table Saws
If you can't handle the heat ...
Dying to procreate
Man Dies After 12-Hour Viagra Orgy
Tourist Eaten by Tiger
Car exhaust starts grass fire and k
Bloody Tragedy in Lexington Park
The campaign to run down jaywalkers
Bloody Tragedy in Lexington Park
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Riding the loco
Shade cloth death slide
Bridge Construction
Farmer feeds the cats
Tiger kills man who jumps into encl
Tiger Kills Man in China
Tiger kills man in China
Crashing a perfect airplane
Railway locomotive climbing
Man jumps into tiger pit
Tiger kills man who jumps into encl
Until the death separates them
Rest Stop Retrieval
Electric human whacker
Fresno teen fails to out run train
The Cat with 6 more lives!
Man pancaked to death
Bet you can’t eat one!
franz reichelt
Car Blast Caused by Cleaning Chemic
Woman run over by pwn car
Memphis car blast injures woman whe
Man killed trying to shock fish
Easyjet flight takes a dive
victory parade bank robber
viagra death
The Human Piñata
Man Humps Bench, Gets Stuck
Like Father, Like Son. Extra Crispy
Death by Horse Penis
russian man dies of viagra overdose
Stupidity behind the wheel
Woman killed walking on train track
Man dies after Viagra fueled orgy.
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Darwin Awards
2009 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

INCHES FROM DEATH

2009 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

By PETER KENDRON

Press Enterprise Writer

SOUTH CENTRE TWP. — Dustin Snyder was helping push his friend's disabled SUV across Interstate 80's river bridge near Mifflinville when he saw a rig barreling toward them.

"We kept saying, 'Move over, Move over,' waving our arms, but he wasn't," Snyder said. "I thought ... 'I'm gonna die.' "

He considered jumping into the water below.

But at the last second, Snyder, 19, and friend Gary Curry, 45, both of Bloomsburg, got out of the way, leaping against the wall of the westbound span over the Susquehanna River.

The tractor-trailer struck the rear of the driver's side of the Ford Explorer, where Curry's wife, Jessica, 38, was still behind the wheel.

The truck then erupted into flames, careened across the rest of the bridge and flipped on its side. The blaze killed the driver of the truck, police said.

Snyder said Jessica Curry was talking after the crash, wondering what was happening. She was flown to the hospital, but no condition was available at press time.

Also, the truck driver had not been identified as of late Monday, but police did say he was from out of state.

Slipping transmission

The trouble began around 2:15 p.m. Snyder said the SUV's transmission gave out on the downhill stretch leading to the bridge. They were headed home from Wilkes-Barre after a trip to the mall, he said.

The men decided to let the SUV coast, and then when it stopped, they got out to push it to the Lime Ridge exit. They all live in the area of the trailer court near Kemler's Restaurant, Snyder said.

For a few minutes, things were going OK, he said. Cars moved to the passing lane to get around the disabled vehicle while Snyder and Mr. Curry pushed with their backs against the Explorer and Mrs. Curry steered. They had made it about halfway over the bridge.

Then they saw the truck.

"We kept waving, 'Get over!' 'Get over!' but he was coming full speed," Snyder said.

When the truck was a few feet away, Snyder dashed for the closest parapet of the bridge.

Gary Curry held on a few more moments urging the truck to move over before he threw himself up against the side of the bridge as well, Snyder said.

Snyder considered jumping off the bridge, but the truck was a few feet toward the center line, leaving just enough room for the two men to avoid getting hit.

The truck hit the SUV, which was in neutral, and pushed it forward. The rig then careened off the walls of the bridge, catching fire after it hit the wall the first time, Snyder said.

'Ball of fire'

The rig quickly erupted into an inferno, said Martin Kauffman, who was working on a drilling crew taking soil samples near the base of the bridge along Old Berwick Road.

"It started swerving back and forth all over the bridge," Kauffman said. As it got to the west end of the span, "it was a giant ball of fire... It looked like it was going to come down on us, so we ran."

His crew could feel the heat of the fire 13 feet below the interstate on Old Berwick Road, he said.

The rig flipped onto its driver's side just before it reached the west end of the bridge, police said. It had traveled at least three football fields after the crash.

Some of the first fire crews to arrive said the heat from the blaze made the concrete walls of the bridge scorching hot and popped bits of concrete off them. They quickly extinguished the flames, but it took nearly an hour for police to find the remains of the truck driver, near the rear wheels of the cab.

River search

Before the driver was found, boat crews searched the river to make sure he hadn't been thrown into the water.

A hovercraft crew from Berwick Reliance's water rescue unit skimmed down from the upriver boat launch.

It searched some small nooks along the shore that Bloomsburg Fire Department's larger flatboat couldn't reach, said rescuer Ben Mike.

They were looking for a person on the surface of the water, possibly caught on a branch, when their search was called off.

Never again

Fire crews from Mifflin Township, Lime Ridge, and Espy put out the fire and cleaned up.

State Police are asking anyone who may have seen the crash to call them at 387-4261.

Snyder, reached at his home on Ridgewood Drive, where he lives with parents Gary and Wendy Snyder, said the day's events left him shaken.

"I feel lucky," he said. "But I'm never going on the interstate again."

Peter Kendron covers the Town of Bloomsburg and Bloomsburg University. Call him at 387-1234, ext. 1312, or e-mail him at kendron@pressenterprise.net.

Submitted on 03/19/2009

Submitted by: Eric
Reference: Press Enterprise Bloomsburg,PA 3-20-09

Copyright © 2009 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
Thanks, but traffic accidents of all sorts on major highways are way too common, and I don't see any true self-selection here any way. It also sounds like the wife may have been injured, which would be another reason to reject this.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
What Bruce said.


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