Wouldn’t it be appropriate that Darwin Awards be made at the coroner’s inquest? And if the ingenious(?) driver of that Pinto had any offspring would that eliminate him from the competition? Honestly folks, this award needs some clearly defined rules. Far too many people are being considered and that cheapens the award. I propose that anyone who dies bunji jumping is an automatic winner, no questions asked. But that Pinto driver was actually making an attempt to transport himself someplace and it might have been work.
@Cole’s law The thing is that way up in northern Minnesota in that county, there are probably less than 5000 people in a huge area. You could go for days without seeing anyone else. I’m not saying I approve of his vehicle, but its not like he was driving it in downtown Chicago.
The other thing is, remember a few years ago in Duluth, a guy took his motorized easy chair to the bar. They got him for DWI in a chair and even confiscated it. They’ve also charged DWI to folks driving a lawn mower. In South Dakota they even charged a guy with DWI riding a horse. I just think they have gone to far. How much damage can a person under the influence do to the public in an easy chair?
There was a guy in the small town of Blenheim, ONT who lost his license due to multiple impaired driving convictions. Damned if he didn’t manage to get himself qualified as disabled, acquire one of those scooters on the tax payer’s nickel and then proceed to rack up even more impaired ‘scooting’ charges. It would have been funny except the guy was an absolute menace in traffic, little of it as there was in a town with two traffic lights.
“Wouldn’t it be appropriate that Darwin Awards be made at the coroner’s inquest?”
You’re probably right about the Queens of the Prom. But this deserves some special recognition, like a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Darwin folks. This really illustrates how foolish Man can be, and isn’t that what the Darwin Awards are about?
On the other hand, I’d consider that Pinto to be a good car. It’s made it for about 40ish years and was still moving under its own power.
That Pinto reminds me of an old T-shirt I have that I refuse to trash and it irritates my wife to no end that I keep it in my closet. She bought it for me in 1976 and it’s been washed so many times it’s thinner than wet tissue paper with countless holes. The hanger is the only thing keeping it from wafting away to parts unknown.
I just tell her it’s a collectible and I want to be buried in it… 
I have a polyester button down shirt from the 1970s. It’s a pastel blue and has what look like apple cores on it. I like it and my wife hates it. I never wear it. I just keep it to get her goat.
We have had several burglaries at our house. The strange thing is that the only things missing are my prized clothes from the late 1950s through the 1960s. One burglary resulted in my favorite argyle socks being stolen from my drawer. Our dog is a great watchdog and I have never figured out how the burglars get past him. The police are no help since I am never certain of the exact date when the theft occured. One officer suggested that it was probably an inside job. I did discover material in the rag bag that looked like my stolen undershirts, but the labels were missing, so I couldn’t prove anything. I’ve also had some of my favorite neckties stolen.
This is why mechanics and college professors need wives…
…for help dressing the color-blind and fashion-impaired.
Yeah I lost a few articles of clothing too like my army jacket that I liked with the big pockets and didn’t have to worry about it. I always suspected an inside job though. I take the garbage out too and usually check it for anything that goes in by mistake.
@Bing–By some coincidence just after one of the clothing thefts at my house, I found clothing that matched exactly what I lost for sale at our local Goodwill store. It’s a place to check when you do have a lost piece of clothing.
@ Tridaq
Hmmmmmm… Lie detector test for Mrs. Triedaq???
Triedaq tries to wear clothes that are in as bad a condition for clothes as the Ford Pinto in the picture. I am always afraid he will have “wardrobe failure”. One day he wore a shirt to class that was too small, but thought he would cover it up with his necktie and sport coat. However, his classroom was too hot, so he took off his sport coat and removed his tie. He then looked down and saw that the buttons on his shirt were ready to pop. What did he do? He tugged at the sides of his shirt and then blamed it on me. He told the class that we had an old washing machine that he had kept going for years (which was true). He said that when the last time it broke, I got impatient and went out and bought a new washing machine of a different make and the new machine had shrunk his clothes. He brought home a note from a female student in his class to me that suggested that if I would use the cold rinse cycle, Triedaq’s clothes wouldn’t shrink.
I think inspection for husband’s clothes is much more important than state inspections for cars.
Mrs. Triedaq
@Bing OK, I’ll concede he was more of a threat to himself than to others, and I’ll admire his ingenuity. I’m from KS myself, so I’m familiar with the wide open nothingness idea. I do still think there was good reason to pull this thing off a public road. I wonder what made the cop stop him in the first place? That’s hard to spot at speed, I’d imagine.
That’s hysterical. A huge disaster just looking for a place to happen. I commend the trooper. This was a good call on his part.
I know things like this are rare, but this is a good example of what can happen when you don’t have state vehicle inspections.
Assuming tires, suspension, brakes, lighting, etc, etc are fine, that car would have passed inspection here in Oklahoma if the vehicle safety inspection program still existed.
Gas can in the front and a seat held up by a spare tire would not be causes for rejection. Sad, but true.
I just could not in good faith ride around with an explosive sitting elbow to elbow with me.
And I’m assuming that the gas tank is vented…into the passenger cabin. Smoke, anyone?
The strict enforcement of the “letter of the law” with no concern for the “intent of the law,” i.e. the public’s safety,remains a sore spot for me, OK4450. And in my state there is likely no restriction on hauling the fuel tank in the passenger’s seat(?). If the car weren’t obviously sagging and if the fuel were somehow firmly attached with metal lines run under the car and some effort had been made to keep water from flowing up from the road, etc., etc., ad nauseum, the car might have been driven somewhat safely but when that much disregard for safety is obvious I must guess that only half the brakes function and there is 1/2 turn of play in the steering. And more than likely the driver does not have a valid license.
Assuming tires, suspension, brakes, lighting, etc, etc are fine....It was pretty obvious from the pictures that the suspension wasn't fine. Also, the driver's seat wasn't attached to anything. I'm pretty sure that would cause a car to fail an inspection. Oh, and the missing floor pieces might not have been mentioned in the inspection guidelines, but something tells me the inspector would have a hard time getting into the car to test the signal lights. There is probably something in the old guidelines that read, "If you look at a car and are afraid to get inside, fail it," but worded more officially.