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2005 August Slush
NO EVIDENCE OF RIPPING
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Scratching head with pistol
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Man Dies Riding Under Truck
Hit the Slopes...Hard
Snack for the Gators
re:NO EVIDENCE OF RIPPING
Jack-knifed trailer kills man
Caution, Speed "hump" ahead
Ready, set, go, OUCH!
Let's Go Feed The Crocs
Computergames+50 hours=dead
Engine sucks captain's hair in
Re: Rooster Blood
Re: EATEN BY HIS PET SPIDERS
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Darwin Awards
2005 Slush Pile

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

Jack-knifed trailer kills man

2005 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

The news article soft-pedals the numbness of the situation. As a rental store owner for thirty years, and Darwin fan awhile, I have had numerous occasions to put the squash to attempted overloads on trucks and/or trailers. This gibbon attempted to load a 15,000 lb forklift on a 4,000 lb trailer attached to a 10,000 lb load capacity pickup truck. None of the above equipment was mine. The ramp stands swung away when the forklift and driver got most of the way onto the trailer. The forklift's weight caused the rear tires of the of the pickup to leave terra firma. At this point gravity and Darwin took over and the whole works began to descend the hill on which it was parked. The gibbon jumped from the forklift (Hero Time!) and ran for the driver's door of the truck to apply the brakes. At this point the whole assembly folded in the middle (Jack-knifed) and squashed the gibbon between the front corner of the trailer and the drivers side of the truck. All he had to do to prevent his death was to continue up the trailer bed until the fork lift's weight allowed the rear tires of the truck to contact the ground again. Interestingly enough, a significantly large number of deadly accidents occur at and around that area very frequently. Darwin Hunting Ground?

Submitted on 08/01/2005

Submitted by: S Levanovich
Reference: Eagle Times; July 29, 2005

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

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Jack said:
Definitely Toss: Other
I'm sorry, but your story doesn't make sense. An overloaded trailer would cause the front wheels to leave the ground, not the rear wheels. Please resubmit with a URL to the cited reference.

Charles said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Actually, a trailer loaded heavily behind the wheels would cause the rear wheels of the truck to lift as described... and that makes the rest of it make sense. But I am not sure I can class this as Darwin-grade -- people often don't think about how heavy things like fork lifts are, I know I would not have. And running for the brakes, well, that sounds like a classic panic pattern to me, rather than stupidity.

Tracy said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
The rear wheels would leave the ground depending on where the load was placed. May need verification and a more humourous write-up, but could be a DA

Kelly said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I agree with Charles and Tracy, this is definately a good candidate for an award. If the forklift were on the tailgate of the truck, the front wheels would come off the ground. Being on the trailer, it's the BACK wheels of the truck that lift off the ground, as the front of the trailier rises and pulls the BACK of the truck off the ground. Running for the breaks, to stop heavy machinery might be an automatic response, but it's conditioned by hollywood heros.

James said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Ouch! Definitely has the potential but needs a better write-up. The present write-up leaves me wondering whether or not the front wheel brakes on the truck and brakes on the trailer were set as well as other issues regarding the potential for Darwin grade stupidity.

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