Charles Darwin with a purple swarm around his head, contemplating the twist of fate that natural selection sidestepped these still-living honorable mentions.

2018 Honorable Mention

Next Prev Random Honorable Mentions have misadventures that stop short of the ultimate sacrifice. Nevertheless we salute the spirit of their colossal blunders with an Honorable Mention. Better luck next time!

Train Surfer
2018 Honorable Mention
Confirmed True by Darwin

Fellow in a bathing suit jumps off the top of a train, Barely Misses High-Voltage Wires and a giant Concrete Piling~ .

(April 2018, Perth, Australia) Footage posted to Facebook and Instagram shows an athletic male train-surfer waving to the camera before leaping off a moving train as it crosses the Fremantle Bridge. Seemingly ignorant of the effect of momentum on his trajectory, the daredevil nearly smacks a pylon as he slams into the water. Compounding this blatant disregard for personal safety, our Honorable Mention ignores the presence of overhead high-voltage wires that are fully capable of killing a man with a 25,000 volt electric arc.

Why do young men do such stunts? A common speculation is that they are competing to win mates. However, train-surfing is highly illegal and spending a year behind bars would certainly blunt any edge gained in attracting a mate.

Police, keen on nailing the perp, have raised a hue-and-cry by distributing CCTV images of his pale face and distinctive ginger hair. They say the daredevil could be charged with trespass with a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail and a $12,000 fine. Irate WA Premier Mark McGowan said, "We are investigating whether or not the penalties are sufficient."

SIDEBAR: Public Transport Authority spokesperson Claire Krol said the train was travelling at "about 45km/h and the man obviously did not realise he would not drop straight down. He was also very close to 25,000 volt wires that could have electrocuted him."

READER COMMENTS:

"Numb nuts -- literally." -A.Dyer
"He didn't fall straight down...?" -R.Manjari
"Darwinian law says this will sort itself out in due time." -S.Andersson
"He tried and failed. Darwin Denied!"

"He surely deserves a Newton Award. A great video for physics teachers to demonstrate the Laws of Motion."- P.Hornzz

"Almost played his swan song doing a swan dive into the Swan river." L.Heilman
"We breed a special kind of special in Perth." -M.Harker
"Courage against inertia, who will win?" -I.M.M.Trieste

ORIGINAL SUBMISSION

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Submitted by: Brown Cardigan
Reference: www.watoday.com.au, www.abc.net, www.dailymail.co.uk

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