And now, the winner of this year's Darwin Award:

[JohnP]

I was going to change Arizona Highway Patrol to California Highway Patrol but I cannot tell a lie

The Arizona Highway Patrol came upon a pile of smoldering metal embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The wreckage resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it was a car. The type of car was unidentifiable at the scene. Police investigators finally pieced together the mystery. An amateur rocket scientist.... had somehow gotten hold of a J A T O unit (Jet Assisted Take Off, actually a solid fuel rocket) that is used to give heavy military transport planes an extra 'push' for taking off from short airfields. He had driven his Chevy Impala out into the desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the J A T O unit to the car, jumped in, got up some speed and fired off the J A T O!
The facts as best as could be determined are that the operator of the 1967 Impala hit the J A T O ignition at a distance of approximately 3.0 miles from the crash site. This was established by the scorched and melted asphalt at that location.
The J A T O, if operating properly, would have reached maximum thrust within 5 seconds, causing the Chevy to reach speeds well in excess of 350 mph and continuing at full power for an additional 20 -25 seconds.
The driver, and soon to become airborne, would have experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog fighting F 14 pilots under full afterburners, causing him to become irrelevant for the remainder of the event.
The automobile probably remained on the straight highway for about 2.5 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied and completely melted the brakes, blowing the tires and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface, then becoming airborne for an additional 1.4 miles and impacting the cliff face at a height of 125 feet leaving a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.
Most of the driver's remains were not recoverable. However, small fragments of bone, teeth and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.
Epilogue: It has been calculated that this Darwin Award winner attained a ground speed of approximately 420-mph, though much of his voyage was not actually on the ground.

You couldn't make this stuff up, could you?



AND PEOPLE JUST LIKE THESE ARE ALL AROUND US, BREEDING & WRITING LEGISLATION FOR OUR GOVERNMENT, AND VOTING!!!

Therefore, never attribute to malice what is perfectly well explained by stupidity.

[Okanagan]

John, we feel bad for your Chevy.  You should'na loaned him your car!   

[FinsnFur]

That is ..wow!

[nastygunz]

Was he wearing his seat belt!?....

[Carolina Coyote]

SAD the guy will not be able to appear to receive his award.

[Hawks Feather]

SAD the guy will not be able to appear to receive his award.

I have noticed that not many were ever able to be there for the ceremony honoring their 'feats'.

Jerry

[HaMeR]

Wow that's too bad. Tis a shame when something like this happens. I mean,, that's another piece of American history removed from the road. I'm sure the '67 Impala lovers are just tore up over this.