Those Darwin Awards

Darwin Awards
The Darwin Awards salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who remove themselves from it in really stupid ways. Of necessity, this honor is generally bestowed posthumously.

Top 2005 Darwin Awards
Failed Frame-Up
Chimney-Cleaning Grenade
Freeway Dangler
"Plug Me In"
Surprise Attack Surprise
The Nuisance of Seatbelts
What I Can Still Do
Elephant Tail

Honorable Mentions
Nighttime Fun with Bullets
Oops, Did It Again

Personal Accounts
Juice Me Up!
Medieval Flambe
Wild Wheelchair Ride
Captain Magneto

Sample Story One:

The Death of Dracula (from 1993)

A college student dressed up as Dracula for Halloween. As a finishing touch, he put a pine board down the front of his shirt, so he could "realistically" stick a knife into the board and pretend he was transfixed with a killing stake. He didn't consider the strength of the thin pine board when he tapped the knife in with a hammer. Propelled by the force of the hammer, the sharp knife tip split the soft pine and buried itself in his heart. He staggered from his dorm room into the party, gasping, "I really did it!" before succumbing before horrified friends.

Sample Story Two:

Think Before You Leap (21 July 2001, Idaho)

When his brakes failed while driving down a steep mountain road, Marco bailed out on his eight passengers and leapt from his Dodge van. Too bad Marco didn't alert the others to the problem before he took flight so precipitously. Another passenger was able to bring the vehicle to a stop a short distance away. Marco struck his head on the pavement and died at the scene. No one else was injured.