Read The Darwin Awards 4: Intelligent Design for Free Online Page B

derby cars become more fragile than the average car. So you would think that Scot, a derby car owner, would take this fact into account when he crawled under his car for repairs. Why take the time to put a car up on blocks? It would be faster and easier to use a handy Bobcat-type skid loader and just lift the car up from its bumper.
    When the car was raised, Scot slid beneath. Then the bumper broke off. Help was immediately summoned, but it was too late. Scot had lost his final demolition derby.
     
    Reference: Detroit Lakes Tribune

D ARWIN A WARD : A SPHALT T ATTOO
    Confirmed by Darwin
     
    1 S EPTEMBER 2003, C OLORADO
     
     
    Ever since middle school, friends say, Tyler, 20, wanted to do something different, something unique, something nobody else would ever try: jump from a moving car. “He thought he could jump, roll, and stand,” said a friend, “like you see in the movies.” Tyler came away from an early car-jump experiment alive, with an asphalt tattoo to commemorate the feat.
    On Labor Day, he was planning another dramatic stunt, riding in the back seat of a Subaru Legacy. Although his friends tried to talk him out of it, the Subaru was cruising at forty miles per hour when Tyler decided that he could, he should, he would jump from the car.
    His father explained, “I think this was the last big thing he wanted to do as an immature kid, before accepting he had to grow up.” But plans to mature were cut short by his instant death, as he hit the road one last time. Tyler’s final jump is commemorated with another asphalt tattoo, this one shaped like a Darwin Award.
     
    Reference: Rocky Mountain News

H ONORABLE M ENTION : O VERHEATED E NGINE
    Confirmed by Darwin
     
    7 J ANUARY 2004, C ROATIA
     
     
    “Maybe I used too much paper.”
     
     
    Eastern Europe is known for its harsh winters, and Dusan, fifty-two, had weathered his fair share of them in his town. But when temperatures dropped low enough to play havoc with outdoor machinery, Dusan was exasperated to find that his Opel Kadett had fallen victim to the cold, repeatedly refusing to start.
    The engine must be frozen, he decided. He remembered times he himself had been freezing in those icy Croatian winters. There was nothing better than warming up before a toasty roaring fire. Yes! That was clearly the solution to his problem. A roaring fire would warm up the Opel’s engine.
    Dusan fetched some old newspapers, stuffed them under the engine, and lit them. While waiting for the engine to warm up, he wandered off—a fortunate occurence, because his beloved car exploded in a fireball. The heartbroken man told reporters, “I couldn’t start the engine and realized it was frozen. Now my lovely car is destroyed.”
    Luckily, Dusan has identified what went wrong.
    “Maybe I used too much paper,” he said.
     
    Reference: ananova.com
     

     
 
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    Before fuel preheaters were installed in diesel engines, it was common for fires to be lit under frozen engines to thaw out the fuel. Because diesel is a safer fuel, this is less problematic than lighting a fire in a petrol (gasoline) engine.
     
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    When a story is about a person who is still with us, the name is changed. In this case, I selected a Croatian name meaning, “God is my judge.”
     
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H ONORABLE M ENTION : C LEAN B RAKE
    Confirmed by Darwin
     
    5 N OVEMBER 2004, N EW Z EALAND
     
     
    Sometimes it pays to use a cheaper substitute, thought Shane, nineteen, as he replaced lost brake fluid with dishwashing liquid. He took the car out for a test drive and discovered that sometimes you get what you pay for.
    He applied his foot to the brake pedal as the car began to slide around a slight bend, but for some reason, the brakes didn’t respond. The car spun completely around, clipped the curb, and slammed into a power pole.
    His trouble was just beginning, though, because Shane had also saved money by not registering the car. There was really no point in registering the car,