By Walt Philbin Staff writer

A man who was critically injured last week when his motorcycle struck a curb on Almonaster Avenue while he was transporting a 5-foot rattlesnake died Tuesday morning at University Hospital.

Sandor Szalmas, 45, a Hungarian national, died at University Hospital of head and spinal injuries suffered in the Dec. 5 accident, said John Gagliano, chief investigator for the Orleans Parish coroner's office. An autopsy was scheduled for today to confirm the cause of death.

Szalmas was injured when he failed to make a curve after apparently being distracted by the rattlesnake on the back of his 650 cc BMW motorcycle in the 5900 block of Almonaster Avenue, police said.

He never regained consciousness after he was taken to University Hospital following the accident, police said.

Friends said Szalmas, a popular jack-of-all-trades who did exceptional renovation and repair work on homes in the French Quarter and elsewhere, liked to hunt, and it was believed he was returning from one of his excursions with the snake.

Friends such as Karen Allayaud speculated he might have wanted to show it to his 9-year-old grandson.

An earlier report that the snake was dead at the time of the accident has been disputed by two police accident investigators, who think it died after the crash.

The investigators think Szalmas may have believed it was dead when he tied it to the back of his motorcycle, and that he was distracted when the snake managed to partly extricate itself as he drove along Almonaster.

Doctors at University Hospital found no evidence he had been bitten by the snake.

Szalmas had many visitors to his hospital bed over the past week -- mostly French Quarter residents who became his friends after he did work for them.

Walt Philbin can be reached at wphilbin@timespicayune.com or (504)¤826-3302.

Submitted on 12/11/2007

Submitted by: Brad Hawkins
Reference: Posted by The Times-Picayune December 11, 2007

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

Chip said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Hmmm... wonder how they determined that the snake was alive at the time of the accident? I guess I would be a bit distracted too if I heard that buzzing right behind me! Thanks, Nell

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
We've already received this story a few times and rejected it as too common. (http://darwinawards.com/reject/new/pending20071206-223643.html). I think that other story provides a bit more detail since there was an eyewitness account in that one. I don't see anything new here to change my vote of this being mainly just a distracted driver. Thanks just the same, Brad.

James said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
I concur with Bruce. Thanks just the same, Brad!

Jack said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I had to go back and read the original (rejected) submission, but I have to disagree with my esteemed collegues... While cases of distracted drivers are quite common, I don't believe that we get many submissions of a driver (or - in this case - a biker) being distracted by a rather large snake attached to the rear of his bike! That is different enough from the usual "distracted driver" stories to make this a potential keeper. Let's let the readers vote on it.

Shadow said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
i say off to Darwin with this on... its a fence for me i cant really decide either way... he was shipping the snake and knew he had it somewhere... if he didnt seal the container properly well he may qualify... we'll have to see, but thanks for the story!

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