The Darwin Awards

[Tatterdemalion]

Are the contenders for the Darwin awards exclusively north american because that is where they are based, or is just natural selection?

[Exiled_red]

Finally, THE WINNER!!!: ( Arkansas Democrat Gazette): Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock , were returning to Des Arc after a frog catching trip. On an overcast Sunday night, Pooles pickup truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the 22 caliber bullets from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering- wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge . After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his n**s off, or we might both be dead," stated Wallis. "I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened," said Snyder. Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia ( Poole 's wife), asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck. Priorities, after all!! Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole did, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool.

[johnp]

Nominee No. 6: A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk , IN. A Jay County man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzle loader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriffs investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzle-loader that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gunpowder ignited.

Almost saw the same thing in Australia. We were changing buses from a coach to a mini-bus for the last part of a 20-hour bus trip to Exmouth on the West Coast. It was late at night, maybe about 10pm so it was dark.
While we were putting the bags in the minibus, the driver asks if we want to see some fireworks. Why not! It was a circular firework, with lots of tubes in it that would shoot lots of lovely coloured fireballs in the air.
So he sets off into the bush, lights the firework and runs back to us.

Nothing happens.

He trots off to pick up the firework and brings it back. He's trying to look in, but can't see anything so uses his lighter to get a better look
Luckily for him, nothing happened.

I was gonna say something at the time, but thought it'd be good inclusion for the Darwins

[dom9]

Drivers in US urged not to drive while blindfolded.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46846981