2 Recent Darwin awards recipients
Hugh Freaking Dillon
Posts: 14,010
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breaki ... 83634.html
FARGO — A North Dakota man was decapitated Monday in a fireworks accident while celebrating the Fourth of July in Fargo, according to eyewitnesses at the scene.
Police identified the victim as Jesse William Burley, a 41-year-old father of two, who enjoyed life to its fullest, said Burley’s stepfather Chuck Asplin of Fargo.
Chris Hanson, Burley’s neighbor who saw the accident, was packing up his car to leave north Fargo’s Riviera Heights mobile home park as tornado sirens sounded just before 9:30 p.m.
Burley was getting ready to set off a second round of what Hanson said he believed was either a homemade or illegal artillery shell firework.
"He went over into the middle of the street, and within 10 seconds of us talking to him, he lit it and all we saw was a cloud of smoke, a bang," Hanson said.
What Hanson saw next immediately sent him into shock, he said.
"When I walked up to his body, it was nothing but his shoulders down," Hanson said Tuesday.
Police Lt. Joel Vettel said Tuesday police are confident the device was a commercial-grade firework, which are federally regulated.
The area Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting Fargo police to investigate whether this type of firework was illegal and how it was obtained, Vettel said.
Hanson said that on Monday evening Burley asked him over to his trailer to check out something. Burley showed Hanson fireworks that contained a warning that read, "If found please report to the U.S. government," Hanson said.
"Right there and then I knew that I had to get away because I was not going to be involved in that," Hanson said.
Burley ignited the first firework, which went off with a big bang but no injuries, Hanson said.
"You could see the shock waves in the air," he said.
An hour and a half later, Burley lit the fatal second firework, Hanson said.
The accident should be used as an example of how dangerous fireworks can be, Hanson said.
"I’m never going to light a firecracker off again in my life," he said.
Burley’s family remembered Jesse as a good-hearted kid, who would do anything for anybody, said Asplin, his stepfather and boss at Chuck’s Sandjacking in Fargo.
Jesse Burley had a two-year-old and a three-year-old son who were not at his residence at the time of the accident.
Fargo police recovered a third firework device in Burley’s home on Tuesday and a metal pipe near the accident site at the 3500 block of Kelley Street North that was reportedly used as a mortar to launch shells.
"It appears that he was lighting the device off, and so we don’t feel that there were others involved in the incident at this point," Vettel said.
Burley’s body was sent to Bismarck for an autopsy. There will be a memorial service at 2 p.m. Friday at Boulger Funeral Home in Fargo.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011 ... death.html
Motorcyclist killed in anti-helmet rally
A man riding bareheaded on one of about 550 motorcycles in an anti-helmet law rally lost control of his cycle, went over his handlebars, hit his head on the pavement and died near Syracuse, N.Y., police said Sunday.
The motorcyclist, 55-year-old Philip A. Contos, likely would have survived the accident if he'd been wearing a helmet, state troopers said.
The accident happened Saturday afternoon in Onondaga, a town in central New York near Syracuse.
P.O.V.
Should helmets be mandatory? Take our survey.
Contos was driving a 1983 Harley-Davidson on a helmet protest ride organized by the Onondaga chapter of American Bikers Aimed Towards Education, or ABATE, troopers said. The organization states that it encourages the voluntary use of helmets but opposes mandatory helmet laws.
Contos, of Parish, hit his brakes, and his motorcycle fishtailed and went out of control, flipping him over the handlebars, police said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Sought helmet freedom
The statewide president of ABATE, Thomas Alton, said Contos wasn't a member of ABATE but was a motorcyclist with 30 years of experience.
"He was one of the public who wanted to join in support of helmet freedom," Alton said.
Participants in the ride, which the Onondaga chapter has held annually for 11 years on the July 4 holiday weekend, were told it was their choice whether to wear helmets, Alton said, and some wore them while others didn't.
"I don't believe we've ever had a fatality on any group run of any kind," he said.
The ride, on a hot, sunny afternoon, was about 50 kilometres long from Syracuse to Lake Como near Cortland.
No other motorcycles were involved in the accident, Alton said.
"An officer of my group said there may have been equipment difficulties for the rider," he said. "Apparently he was riding a motorcycle that wasn't his usual one. Some vehicles have different quirks."
State requires helmets
While mandatory helmet laws are a major issue for ABATE, the group also lobbies for numerous other issues, including adding motorcycle awareness to driver's permit exams and fighting motorcycle-only police checkpoints.
"Awareness is our first issue," Alton said. "A large percentage of motorcyclists killed on the highway have been because a car turned left in front of it."
New York is one of 20 states that require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets. Lobbying by motorcyclist groups has led some states to repeal helmet laws.
A helmet that meets federal standards reduces the wearer's chances of being killed in an accident by more than 40 per cent, said safety consultant Jim Hedlund, of the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Annual motorcycle fatalities have more than doubled since the late 1990s, peaking in 2008 at 5,312 deaths but dropping to 3,615 last year, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says.
FARGO — A North Dakota man was decapitated Monday in a fireworks accident while celebrating the Fourth of July in Fargo, according to eyewitnesses at the scene.
Police identified the victim as Jesse William Burley, a 41-year-old father of two, who enjoyed life to its fullest, said Burley’s stepfather Chuck Asplin of Fargo.
Chris Hanson, Burley’s neighbor who saw the accident, was packing up his car to leave north Fargo’s Riviera Heights mobile home park as tornado sirens sounded just before 9:30 p.m.
Burley was getting ready to set off a second round of what Hanson said he believed was either a homemade or illegal artillery shell firework.
"He went over into the middle of the street, and within 10 seconds of us talking to him, he lit it and all we saw was a cloud of smoke, a bang," Hanson said.
What Hanson saw next immediately sent him into shock, he said.
"When I walked up to his body, it was nothing but his shoulders down," Hanson said Tuesday.
Police Lt. Joel Vettel said Tuesday police are confident the device was a commercial-grade firework, which are federally regulated.
The area Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting Fargo police to investigate whether this type of firework was illegal and how it was obtained, Vettel said.
Hanson said that on Monday evening Burley asked him over to his trailer to check out something. Burley showed Hanson fireworks that contained a warning that read, "If found please report to the U.S. government," Hanson said.
"Right there and then I knew that I had to get away because I was not going to be involved in that," Hanson said.
Burley ignited the first firework, which went off with a big bang but no injuries, Hanson said.
"You could see the shock waves in the air," he said.
An hour and a half later, Burley lit the fatal second firework, Hanson said.
The accident should be used as an example of how dangerous fireworks can be, Hanson said.
"I’m never going to light a firecracker off again in my life," he said.
Burley’s family remembered Jesse as a good-hearted kid, who would do anything for anybody, said Asplin, his stepfather and boss at Chuck’s Sandjacking in Fargo.
Jesse Burley had a two-year-old and a three-year-old son who were not at his residence at the time of the accident.
Fargo police recovered a third firework device in Burley’s home on Tuesday and a metal pipe near the accident site at the 3500 block of Kelley Street North that was reportedly used as a mortar to launch shells.
"It appears that he was lighting the device off, and so we don’t feel that there were others involved in the incident at this point," Vettel said.
Burley’s body was sent to Bismarck for an autopsy. There will be a memorial service at 2 p.m. Friday at Boulger Funeral Home in Fargo.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011 ... death.html
Motorcyclist killed in anti-helmet rally
A man riding bareheaded on one of about 550 motorcycles in an anti-helmet law rally lost control of his cycle, went over his handlebars, hit his head on the pavement and died near Syracuse, N.Y., police said Sunday.
The motorcyclist, 55-year-old Philip A. Contos, likely would have survived the accident if he'd been wearing a helmet, state troopers said.
The accident happened Saturday afternoon in Onondaga, a town in central New York near Syracuse.
P.O.V.
Should helmets be mandatory? Take our survey.
Contos was driving a 1983 Harley-Davidson on a helmet protest ride organized by the Onondaga chapter of American Bikers Aimed Towards Education, or ABATE, troopers said. The organization states that it encourages the voluntary use of helmets but opposes mandatory helmet laws.
Contos, of Parish, hit his brakes, and his motorcycle fishtailed and went out of control, flipping him over the handlebars, police said. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Sought helmet freedom
The statewide president of ABATE, Thomas Alton, said Contos wasn't a member of ABATE but was a motorcyclist with 30 years of experience.
"He was one of the public who wanted to join in support of helmet freedom," Alton said.
Participants in the ride, which the Onondaga chapter has held annually for 11 years on the July 4 holiday weekend, were told it was their choice whether to wear helmets, Alton said, and some wore them while others didn't.
"I don't believe we've ever had a fatality on any group run of any kind," he said.
The ride, on a hot, sunny afternoon, was about 50 kilometres long from Syracuse to Lake Como near Cortland.
No other motorcycles were involved in the accident, Alton said.
"An officer of my group said there may have been equipment difficulties for the rider," he said. "Apparently he was riding a motorcycle that wasn't his usual one. Some vehicles have different quirks."
State requires helmets
While mandatory helmet laws are a major issue for ABATE, the group also lobbies for numerous other issues, including adding motorcycle awareness to driver's permit exams and fighting motorcycle-only police checkpoints.
"Awareness is our first issue," Alton said. "A large percentage of motorcyclists killed on the highway have been because a car turned left in front of it."
New York is one of 20 states that require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets. Lobbying by motorcyclist groups has led some states to repeal helmet laws.
A helmet that meets federal standards reduces the wearer's chances of being killed in an accident by more than 40 per cent, said safety consultant Jim Hedlund, of the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Annual motorcycle fatalities have more than doubled since the late 1990s, peaking in 2008 at 5,312 deaths but dropping to 3,615 last year, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says.
Gimli 1993
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
THAT'S the definition of ironic, Alanis.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
smoking 18 years old
drinking 21 years old
gambling 18 to 21 years old
drive a car 16 years old
and Darwin was mistaken on a few of his idea's and time lines anyway
Godfather.
stupid ?..two people are dead and you call them stupid, you have a lot to learn about life and people
you can start by trying to understand your self a little better,it wont happen over night but as the CCR song goes
"someday you'll understand"
life isn't about judging other peoples mistakes or even bad judgment's ,these people didn't try to hert anybody else..they made mistakes that cost them their lives,how did that change your life ? what have you learned from their mistakes ? better yet how smart do you have to be to call someone else stupid ?
Godfather.
everybody is wired differently and there is such a wide range if things that make us different
and me myself I try to see people for who they are and how they treat others, the population as a whole
is full of some real cool thing's and if we spend our time looking for the ugly things or the thing's we personally disagree with we will miss what is really beautiful about people....sorry for the rant but this topic really made me think about life and people.
Godfather.
It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see. - Thoreau
This is like the thread about that guy who roasted himself in a sauna as part of a competition, and everyone chimed in to call him an idiot....i had to argue (alone, if I recall correctly) that it was just plain bad taste to be snickering at a guy who died, regardless of how stupid the act that killed him was....and esp while the persons' family grieves. Kind of like fuck's comment in the other thread about depersonalizing the plight of children in danger; if the kid was in front of you, you would not be saying "fuck him, the parents are responsible"....in this case, if the family was in front of you....would you comment on the tragedy, or the victim's stupidity?
Never thought of that angle....
Ms. Morrisette? What say you?
there you go again GF, passing judgment on me passing judgment. isn't it ironic.....dontcha think?
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
I don't give a shit how long you've been riding. Jerry Seinfeld said it best:
"the only thing dumber about wearing a helmet (instead of avoiding the activity altogether) is the helmet law. The idea is to protect a brain that is functioning so poorly, that it doesn't even want to protect the skull that it's in".
Maybe it's not my place to tell you to wear a helmet. But it is my place to have an opinion on how smart or stupid that action is. I'm allowed my opinion just as you are.
do you have an issue with wearing a seatbelt?
do you have an issue with kids in car seats?
do you have an issue with driving on the correct side of the road?
what if that douchebag with the illegal "firework" actually did hurt someone other than himself? what if one of his surviving kids was with him and died? would you have an issue with it then? so then what do you do? create laws so people only do dumb things in private? :?
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
It didn't change my life. all it changed was a few less due to natural selection.
don't tell me what I need to learn about life. you talk about judging. ha. you do nothing but judge people who don't agree with you on here. what a joke.
it's stupid to blow something up that is a government grade weapon. you really want to argue that?
it's stupid to not wear a helmet on a motorcycle when wearing it would have saved his life. you really want to argue that?
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
I'm always hip to a joke and I'm glad we have you here on the train to tell a few
I don't believe that I judged you at all...just questioned your judgment so roll as you wish bro.
Godfather.
Are you serious? Why have any rules/regulations at all then....the parents will take care of it. Jeez.
What is wrong with following rules in order to have privileges (such as riding a motor vehicle on a public road)? Especially when those rules are in place to protect you?
Why don't we make it manditory to wear helmets while driving a car? Its for safety right.
What about making it a law that kids have to wear helmets while slead riding/riding a bike?
Yes, commercial fireworks can kill others, so ok. Same with driving on the wrong side of the road...Kids don't have the mental capacity to make an informed decision on whether or not to wear a seatbelt, or sit in a car seat, so those laws Im fine with. They're designed to protect innocents from negligence.
But if someone wants to take risks that can cause no physical harm to anyone else, who are we to say no? Before we say 'but you are risking emotionally hurting your family if you're killed'.....wouldnt' that apply every time we get behind the wheel, period? It's legal to jump out of a plane, bungee jump, surgically alter your body for fun/esthetics, chase tornados, smoke cigs, and a million other dangerous activities...but not to ride a bike without a helmet, or smoke a joint in your own basement. It's all reactionary bs derived from the latest, most hyped panic and a need for additional govt cash cows...
Lets let adults make adult decisions.
these two blockheads clearly couldn't. And godfather stated himself that you won't ever get into an accident if you know what you are doing. How ridiculous. no matter how great a rider you are, you can't always account for other shitty drivers on the road that may kill you if you don't have a helmet on. it's not a personal slight on someone's skills. I think we're a bit older than that.
now, since they didn't harm anyone else but themselves, they can be free to do what they want. but I have no sympathy for dolts like this.
I'm not saying you can't make correct decisions, but a very high percentage (more than we'd like to admit, I'm sure) need to be protected from themselves, and others protected from them.
Don't tell me that "government is raising our kids". Most laws are born from public outrage. People make laws, governments don't.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
HOW IS THAT AN EXTREME??? I wear a seatbelt every time I get behind a wheel. it saves lives. do you dispute that?
and damn right my kid wears a bike helmet every time she gets on one. I'd be a bad parent if she didn't. what issue do you with that? a 4 year old's hair being messed up? does it look "geeky"? I'd say 90% of the bike riders where I live where them, adults and children alike, on the road with cars or not.
It's just common sense. why do people resist taking precautions? is it not cool to be safe? :roll:
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
Someone not wearing a seatbelt can certainly effect the health/lives of others in the same car. Have you ever seen someone fly around in a car accident without a seatbelt?
If you are going to do away with some of these laws, then you must allow insurance companies to not pay out a dime for injuries when someone isn't using the appropriate safety gear. You must also allow someone to be charged with manslaughter when they choose to not wear a seatbelt and they fly into the back of the car killing someone.
Honestly, I have no idea why people continue to fight for their right to be a f'in dumbass.
Godfather.
and Godfather said what ? c'mon brother that's just a little out there in the cheap seats aint it.
Godfather.
P.S. please point out where I posted that, I think you might be wrong.
you said people who have more than 5 years experience should have the choice. one would deduce from that that means you won't get into an accident if you have that much experience, otherwise, your argument of having the choice to not wear a helmet doesn't make much sense.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
actually the insurance company point is one I was also going to make. it's a great point. if i was an insurance company, why would I pay someone's estate out for dying accidentally (which is usually a very lofty payout) when they didn't take the necessary precautions to avoid it? it only makes sense.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
really? really? are you insinuating that we need to be drivers in order to have a valid point? that argument holds NO water, no matter what the subject.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
You make it sound as if it's not possible to implement these changes. How was it handled before the laws came into effect? I doubt insurance companies would mind more reasons to deny claims.
I'm not fighting anything, just commenting on the stupidity of policing stupidity. I disagree that people need to be protected from themselves.
What about my other examples? Should people be allowed to legally undergo optional surgical procedures, or jump from airplanes, drive a car, eat fatty foods etc etc? Why? Where do we draw the line?