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2008 April Slush
DA:Priest in balloon is blown to ocean
DA:Priest Visits boss
DA:Off to heaven
DA:More details on the missing priest
DA:Sky Pilot Priest Balloon Bye Bye
Balcony jumper wanted to test himse
Bonfire Night
HM:Battered Sausage
On The Road Again
(?)Four Wheel Drive
DA:Look Before You Leak
ice diving instructor misses hole
DA:DIY Pensioner Meets Shocking End
(DA)Intravenous Birdseed Man
Crushed crooks
Vibrator, blender and bathtube
Mr
(?)Pedestrian Killed on Barlow Trail
DA:A Screw Loose...
(?)cutting up gas tank
Chloroform and Sex Don't Mix
Beer, baseball, and an escalator
Crank it up a little Virgil
He wasn´t the Hulk...
No balls No brains
Huntingdon Man Shoots Himself in L
battered and bruised member
A "Hot" Idea.
Guns are not effective bee killers
Boys Will Be Boys
Man dies from mercury poisoning aft
In over his head...
Drunken Idiot Falls from moving SUV
A New Take on Car Surfing
Groin ... groin ... gone
Irish Bomb Expert
toasted Grenade
Possible Copper Theft Leads to Elec
Snakeskin Bracelet
Electrocuted stealing live wires
Man accidentally shoots self in che
DA:Off to Heaven
Teen sneaks out, plunges 11 floors
blasted dog
no through road my ass
Train hits man peeing on track
Police: Man dies in freak accident
Teens, Bonfire and Gas
Skateboarder Crashes into Bus
Banned for Life
A+B+C=almost DA idiocy.
Parrot rescue ends in disaster
Man runs himself over with U-Haul.
Caution: Flammable Material
See how fast I can go!
Jumping From Bridge To Train
Now promoted to higher position
Drunken Construction Worker Death
Thief burnt to death
Tree Ride Gone Wrong
Drunk Motorbike riding ends "split"
Man killed by 11,000 volts
man falls into mt st helens
I dare you to jump
Reach out and touch a tree
Fatal Boat Party Tragedy
Stuck for a 'pee'?
The Campout Pyro
Racine man dies while climbing at w
Detonator's Radio
Bubba's Electrical Service
Earth Day Gone Wrong
Man drowned after jumping into lake
Cuddling with the crocodiles
Blown Lung
heat sink fire
virginal birth - NOT
Shock Therapy for Thief
The Eye and the Testicles
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Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

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

Four Wheel Drive

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Darwin says, "Thanks for the anonymous submission! Although I laughed at the scenario you described--escalators are intrinsically amusing--this man had only just purchased his 4W-drive scooter, and this sounds like a reasonable mistake. It's an error I can see myself making !! and, to my mind, not an instance of monumentally poor judgment."
I work in a hospital in a small Western Arizona Town near the town of Laughlin, Nevada. The town is a mini Las Vegas with a few casinos and is a destination for our northern citizens during the winter months. We got an elderly gentleman in the Emergency Room with multiple injuries. It seems he had just gotten a new motorized scooter for better mobility. The salesman had told him that the scooter was four wheel drive and "could go anywhere." Our gentleman decided that gambling on the first floor of the casino was boring and decided to go to the second floor, but the elevator was too far away. A nearby escalator seemed the reasonable alternative, since he did have four wheel drive and could go anywhere. He almost made it to the top of the escalator, but the last foot needed a bit more power. Goosing the throttle, the chair reared up and over. The subsequent tumble back down the escalator brought the man to our Emergency room. His injuries were not life threatening, but substantial.

Submitted on 04/02/2008

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: Personel Knowledge/March 2998

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

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Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
I've seen plenty of warning signs at escalators saying that people shouldn't bring baby strollers onto them. I guess this means that those signs will now have to be modified to include four wheel drive scooters... Thanks for a good chuckle!


James said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Those things weigh a TON, as I'm sure our hapless victim found out as he and it tumbled back down the escalator. Sometimes it takes a nasty fall to teach a person all about common sense! Thanks for a good laugh!


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