Charles Darwin's Darwin Awards 
HOME
Darwin Awards
Honorable Mentions
Urban Legends
Personal Accounts
Slush Pile
2007 August Slush
(DA) Marlboro Cigarette Raft and a Flood
(?) Mirabilandia - Katun
(HM) Dancin' In The Street
(DA) Beer for Bears
(?) I've Been Texting on the Railroad
(?) Man dies after being run over by po
(?) Wooden Rails
(Hmm) CSI 1, Provo 0
(?) Covered load
(?) Would You Like Fry With That?
(?) Self-disposal
(DA) Those aren't teddy bears!
(HM) Key to Stupidity
(?) Rookie cop who killed himself ...
Forgetting Something?
The Anaheim Space Program
Porch Swing Pipebomb
(?) Police Academy 8 (
conveying the message
(DA) Expanding Foam & Blowtorch Fatality
Why do you need a steering wheel?
Balls R Us
OMG, Train meets Texter.
(?) Witchdoctor meets his ancestors
Glass-Eating Crook
Cinder block'd
Volt reader mishap
Stoned and Educated???
"Et Tu Brute?"
A quiet place to sleep!!!
no nuts
That's all he wrote ...
Another jump from moving car
Danger High Voltage
Laying Rubber
Anything for aa high
Flip and Miss
Train Surfing
Dwarf in on stage accident.
When it turns out that the guy you
Man struck, killed by train in Melb
"I can do that!"
S.F. rookie cop who shot himself to
Teen falls six stories
Scrap Van Man
Beheaded rattlesnake can still bite
Police pluck flip-flopless teen off
Japanese biker fails to notice mis
The Deer Hunter
Cockroaches brutally attack........
Man On Lawnmower Killed In Collisio
A Valuable Lesson
Camel kills Australian woman
Where's the doorknob?
An Explosive Game of Frisbee
Follow that rod!
Illegal Surgery - Testicle Removal
When Nature Calls...
Bedford High School student died wh
Watch out for that tree?
Cooking his own goose..
Death by band-aid.
peepong tom electrocuted
Game Over, Dude
Inmate thrown from Roof
Woman killed by pet camel in outbac
Another Method of Electrocution!
Brazilian edition
Older Slush 
 
~ Randomizer ~
Newsletter
Gift Shop
Rules  Search
Contact Darwin
Submit a Story
Philosophy Forum
Home

  

Darwin Awards
2007 Slush Pile

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

I've Been Texting on the Railroad

2007 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Darwin says, "Great title, Sabrina! And cute write-up. But a common mishap. After due consideration, I think I'll leave this one in the Slush Pile."
ORIGINAL SUBMISSION: (Near Miss!)

18-year-old Zachariah Smith went out for a walk around 10am. As most of us do in this glory day of technological advancement, he carried his cell phone along with him. As he approached a railroad crossing, he paused to let a southbound train pass. While he was waiting for the tracks to clear, he began sending text messages on his cell phone. Once the southbound train had cleared, our hero stepped around the gate and onto the tracks, still engrossed in his text-message conversation. Oblivious to the flashing lights, lowered gate and blaring horn of a train coming from the opposite direction, Zachariah stood on the tracks staring at his cell phone as the train slammed into him. Witnesses say he was thrown 50 feet and knocked unconscious. He is in serious condition at a local hospital.

Submitted on 08/21/2007

Submitted by: Sabrina Grigsby
Reference: Aug 20, 2007 - http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/gen/ap/OH_Train_Pedestrian_Texting.html

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

Great? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Awful?
Love it! Hate it!
>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
We have this, but I like your simple and clean write-up, Sabrina! I will thus let Darwin consider it...


Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
This is the best writeup so far that I've seen for this story. Thanks, Sabrina!


The Darwin Awards Gift Shop

$16 Smoking Crater T-Shirt / Black
Heavy 100% cotton, black Hanes Beefy-T with an inadvisable cigarette break on the front... a smoking crater on the back! Click on the image for a full view. Based on true stories. Errata: TNT will not explode in the presence of a lit cigarette. The man was actually sitting on a crate of gelignite.
Buy the Smoking Crater T-Shirt

 

Slush Pile
Slush Pile Rejects


Advanced Search

HomeRulesFAQsAwardsSlushSite Map
DarwinAward | HonorableMention | PersonalAccount | UrbanLegend