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2009 November Rejects
Argentine Model Dies After Cosmetic
Oil lamp in a saucepan
crotch shot during robbery
Man Electrocuted in Substation
Fire Officials Release Cause Of Fat
gas bottle 2
gas bottle
Man dies after a soccer goal
waiter celebrates goal and dies
Victim's family: Additional I-440 b
Malaria meds
Warcraft Death
Man killed in Maine fire was mixing
Aint no ways to go
Lad ripped his scrotum off
I Ate My Homework!
Bined by bin lorry
Gasoline Odour Remover
suburban bowling
Russian roulette
Toyota recall
British Student, 16, Falls to her D
3 Too Many
KY Census taker kills himself
Alcohol kills, smoking kills
Desperatly needs a hobby
Man blown to pieces by fireworks
High heel teen falls under train
High Heels, High Squeals
Fooling with Dynamite
drunken microlight pilots
Quotation
A One vehicle Accident Claims Life
Up in Smoke
Man, animal, loaded rifle=Karma
Extreme Road Rage
Drivin' My Life Away
Highway patrol run over
Enter the hospital: Would-be ninja
Freeze - Everybody Clap Your Hands
Never heard about the curiosity cat
Woman rescued from large sink hole
Drunk, Stoned Pilots
Florida Woman Dies After Being Thro
The Farmers and the Well
Suicide Experiment
Seattle Ninja?
New scary trend in drug abuse
Death plunge at mall
Man Who Said He Was a Ninja Impaled
Drunk Ninja Wannabe
Ninja
3 Days to Identify
Missed Target
An unsavoury tale
Toyota Gene Pool Cleanser
Drunk hammers nail into head
thief shoots off his penis
Man dies breaking into own house
He Did It Wrong
Jackass style Sled Ride
Smurf Bomb
Goal Keep Boom
All downhill from there
man dies breaking into own house
moles
Rich Texan Near Miss :)
X Rated tale in the ER
Milk the Balls?
Woman Ran Over By Her Own Car
Car-Surfing on a Full-Size RC Car
Honorary Ungulate
Deer dies after leap into DC zoo li
Deer loses head-butt with ornament
Milk the Balls??
Drunk women falls infront of train
Unlucky buck: Deer loses fight...
Explosive bank robbery
Don't Drop that Drummer!
Elevator shaft
Grizzly Man
Car Surfing
Car surfing in PR
no more children
Robber emasculates himself
Alleged robber shoots himself in cr
Darwin Award of the Millenia
Bonfire Trip
Robbery Balls Up
Robber shoots himself in crotch
Emasculating experience
Robber emasculates himself
Robber emasculates himself
MSU student's dragging death
Teen killed near Joe Louis Arena wa
Car Surfer Wipes Out in San Juan
Hide and Go Seek Coroner
Is there insurance for that?
Drunk Tourist Breaks His Neck
Man plays with rabid bat
Man charged with drunken driving af
It's only a little nip!
Yep, it's loaded.
Playing with a Wild Bat
From The Valley
Twice the Booze, Twice the Pain
Death before dishonor
239kg man dies
ManClown Killed by Train
They love trains too much
Wis. man attempts drive-by shooting
Friendly death
Look For a Car With An Arm on it
Softball not Water Polo
Christian God
Smoking kills
Deputies: Man Electrocuted Trying T
Nearly ejected from the gene pool
Plane Silly (honorary mention)
Dui on stolen lawnmover
arthur kade
Bear Kills Militants
Ran over by her own car.
The Pig Man
! want your cellular (Russian way)!
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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!

Toyota Gene Pool Cleanser

2009 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

On August 28th, a 2009 Lexus ES with a family of four was involved in a fatal accident due to an accelerator pedal that was stuck open. The driver called 911 emergency just a few minutes before the crash. He said that the vehicles brakes were not working and the gas pedal was stuck. Shortly after, the Lexus reached 120 mph, hit a SUV, and rolled over an embankment and it burst into flames. If they had time to call called 911, they surely had time to either turn off the ignition or slip it into neutral...thank goodness it got the lot of them...the gene pool is better for it.

Actually slipping it into neutral is probably better since you still have assist for the steering and brakes.

I know it was a Lexus, and yes I know the fancier Toyota probably had the push button ignition. This would require that they hold the ignition button in 3 seconds which they might not have known so I will give them the benefit on that one...but this does not excuse them not slipping it into neutral.

Submitted on 11/17/2009

Submitted by: Toyota Owner
Reference:

Copyright © 2009 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection
Frankly I'm surprised you thought this was even worthy of submission because there are so many reasons it isn't. First of all, the passengers in the car are innocent victims so that's an automatic toss for hurt bystanders. This incident has also been highly publicized because it was partially responsible for the recent recall of floor mats announced by Toyota. The 911 call and details of the incident have been widely reported in the news in the past few months. What your submission fails to mention is that the driver was an off duty state trooper, so chances are he was well aware of potential alternatives like turning off the ignition or shifting into neutral. Turning off the ignition is actually a very bad idea, especially in more modern cars, because it will likely lock the steering wheel and also disable power brakes. And shifting modern transmissions into neutral while accelerating is also not as easy as it sounds since modern cars are designed to prevent just such an action.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: No Self-Selection


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