Found this in yesterday's (12-29-2005) edition of the Kalamazoo Gazette -- don't know if it's a Darwin Award attempt gone wrong or what (probably what ) ...
Good idea goes bad after car meets mud
Important safety tip: Do not place a toolbox on the accelerator of your car as you attempt to free it from mud. Bad things can happen.
As they did Wednesday when a 29-year-old Paw Paw man found himself lost in rural Calhoun County. The man, who was not identified by Calhoun County Sheriff's deputies, attempted to turn around on J Drive South in Leroy Township and got his rear-wheel-drive car bogged down in the mud on the edge of a bean field.
The man made several attempts to drive out of the mud before he hatched another plan. He decided to place his toolbox on the accelerator and get outside the car to try to push it free, deputies said.
The maneuver freed the car, but deputies said the vehicle sped away from him, accelerating across the bean field and going airborne in some spots as he tried to run after it.
Lt. Jim McDonagh said the car probably reached speeds of more than 100 mph and traveled half a mile before going into woods and striking a tree.
"He was stone-cold sober when he did this," McDonagh said. As for the car, he said, "the front of the vehicle is touching the windshield."
The man will not face charges for the incident, McDonagh said. To prevent embarrassment, McDonagh said, he would not identify him.
"Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent." -- Pogo (via Walt Kelly)
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