Feb 8 2007, Hefeng County, Hebei Province , China -

After wedding celebration, the (inebriated) Groom was driving home his 31 of his family members in a truck meant for 5 people when the car pluged off the cliff, killing 16 of them and left the rest in serious condition.

Authorities claimed bad weather likely contributed to this accident.... But we know it's Darwin!

The Darwin checklist :

Reproduction - A newly wedded groom killed with 15 others just before he heads home for reproduction acts! *Check*

Excellence - Squeezing 32 people into vehicle meant for five? And of all people they let the most inebriated of all, the GROOM (since it's certain he'll be forced to "bottom up" numberous times in any Chinese wedding), to drive the car! Collective stupidity. *Check*

Self selection - Do you think the crash was caused by bad weather? 31 people did not object to being driven by the most drunk of all, and considering the hard effort to get into a vehicle with 31 others........ *Check*

Maturity - No mention of children; since the crash happened next morning (see detailed reports), we can assume children has been bought home yesternight with other guests, leaving the adults drink to their demise. *Check*

Veracity - Sources include reliable ones like People's Daily Online. Although there are conflicting report of whether the vehicle being a small truck or private car, all reports mentioned the max capacity being 5. *Check*

BONUS :

The 16 Darwin "victims" share mostly similar genetic material, making the accident a big Chlorination of the Gene Pool.

References: http://j.people.com.cn/2007/02/09/jp20070209_67729.html (japanese) http://www.driveandstayalive.com/info%20section/news/aa_road-safety-in-the-news_current.htm http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/199388.htm

(Hi, although I have read quite alot from Darwins, this is my first submission, please tell me what can be improved if rejected.)

Submitted on 09/12/2007

Submitted by: triggisp@yahoo.co.jp
Reference: http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/199388.htm

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Neutral: Bystanders Hurt
You are certainly on the right track here! My only concern (and perhaps the only "improvement" you need to be aware of) is the very good possibility that at least some of the passengers were bystanders, and our bystanders hurt rule is pretty strict (usually an automatic toss). It could be argued, however, that since no reasonable person would cram themselves into a truck meant for five with 30 other people driven by a drunk, that all were willing participants! I will leave this one afloat for further moderator debate, but I'll wager it gets zapped for bystanders hurt! Good first effort, however, keep 'em coming!

Chip said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
triggisp, when I first read this one, I though, oh well... bystanders hurt. But upon proper reflection and contemplation I concluded that none of these were bystanders. To cram themselves into a small truck or private car in such a matter was a foolhardy disregard for their own well being. Darwin award it is! As for how to improve, yours is a nice first submission. I would ask that submitters leave the grading to us, but that is a personal preference. I don't know if the other mods agree. Thanks!

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Bystanders Hurt
While I can understand the thinking behind grouping all these people together I still find it hard to believe all 31 of the passengers were willing participants. Overloading cars isn't all that uncommon in countries like China where a very small percentage of people actually own them. Without knowing the ages of the people in the car I find it reasonable to assume that within a wedding party there might be children who were unaware of the dangers of climbing into that car. If we learn that only adults were involved in this accident then I'd gladly vote DA on this one.

Graham said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Agreeing to being driven by a drunk is DEFINITELY self selection. I wonder if this would fall under the category of suicide, though, because that's also what this is.

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