The Darwin Awards

Pending Review

Sister Act

According to the lyrics of the Eurthymics' 1985 Top 10 hit, Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves. These words may have been in the minds of sisters Maria (22) and Gurpreet Singh of Wainuiomata, New Zealand back in April 2018. The girls were trying to jumpstart a Ford 8 car that was parked at the top of the steep driveway of their property, using a second car that was parked nearby.

Rather than using proper wheel chocks, however, the girls instead decided to instead use a 4cm rock which they placed behind the rear wheel of the driver's side of the Ford. The jumper leads being used didn't reach, so the girls went and manually pushed the Ford closer to the second vehicle. The girls' mother, Gurbax, was watching and objected to their actions. Both Maria and Gurpreet ignored their mother's warnings and carried on regardless, with Maria claiming that she was a strong girl and would be fine. Famous last words.

Maria got inside the Ford and then positioned herself outside the rear passenger door. Gurpreet did the same on the other side. The pair pushed, the car rocked backwards over the make-shift chock and rolled back down the driveway pinning Maria underneath.

So what went wrong? According to Coroner Heidi Wrigley, the handbrake of the Ford was found to be disengaged and it's believed that Maria must have pushed it down when she entered the car. The Coroner's conclusion was "The dangerousness of their actions was heightened by the inadequacy of the chock being used on a steep driveway and apparent absence of any adequate plan to secure or brake the Ford 8 upon moving it or them losing control of it."

My conclusion is that Maria is the recipient of a Darwin award and Gurpreet the recipient of an Honorable Mention.

Submitted on 07/24/2022

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