A drunk driver was suffocated between his car door and roof after swerving onto the wrong side of the road to hit a “ferret”, evidence given to a coroner says.

Rodney Spiers, 30, died on Waikawa Valley Rd in the early hours of the morning on September 25 last year.

He had left Invercargill earlier that day with his friend David McClelland to go on a fishing trip in the Catlins.

Mr McClelland told Coroner David Crerar that Mr Spiers was drinking rum and cola mixers as they drove and became increasingly angry and aggressive.

The car left the road when Mr Spiers swerved to chase a “ferret”, Mr McClelland told the coroner.

When Mr Spiers tried to get out of the car, it tipped down a steep embankment and trapped his neck between the driver’s door and the roof.

Coroner Crerar listed Mr Spiers’ cause of death as positional asphyxia.

His blood alcohol level of 229ml per 100ml of blood was “extremely high” and did him no credit, Mr Crerar found.

A screening test of his blood and urine also indicated he had used cannabis and opiate type drugs which would have added to the effects of alcohol.

Driving while pissed and stoned, swerved to try and kill something, left the road, got out and made his own car tip over on him and suffocate him – brilliant!

Submitted on 09/19/2012

Submitted by: Steve Loveridge
Reference: Whaleoil.co.nz Blog 20Sept 2012

Copyright © 2012 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
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Thanks, Steve! What does it for me is the fact that he went OUT OF HIS WAY to kill a ferret. Ferrets are pretty maneuverable critters, and it would seem that in the end, the ferret and the passenger (Mr. McClelland), are fine while Mr. Spiers is gone forever. Pretty damn karmic too!

Candi said:
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