June 6: Benjamin Carpenter, of Kalamazoo, Mich., is shown in a wheelchair after becoming stuck to the grill of a truck near Paw Paw, Mich.
Posted on 06/07/2007 9:38:38 PM PDT by Kaslin
PAW PAW, Mich. — Why did the 21-year-old cross the road?
Benjamin Carpenter, 21, was crossing a Michigan highway in his wheelchair when he became stuck in a semitrailer's grille and pushed for miles before the unknowing driver was pulled over, police said on Thursday.
Carpenter escaped unharmed, saying, "It was quite a ride," police said.
Carpenter was attempting to cross on Wednesday when the light turned green and his wheelchair became hooked onto the front grille of the truck, which reached 50 mph during the 4-mile trip down Red Arrow Highway, Michigan State Police Trooper Michael Sinke said witnesses reported.
Carpenter was taken to a hospital as a precaution. He had been secured to his wheelchair by a seat belt.
Witnesses reported that the light turned green, so the truck took off, never seeing the wheelchair in front of him or the fact that it had attached to his front grill. When officers stopped the truck at a private business, Carpenter was in a calm state.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
June 6: Benjamin Carpenter, of Kalamazoo, Mich., is shown in a wheelchair after becoming stuck to the grill of a truck near Paw Paw, Mich.
Whoever manufactures that thing just got an incredible endorsement. Amazing.
I don’t know what color his pants were before the incident but they had to be brown after wards!
I’m calling B.S. on how he got stuck. I think he tried to kill himself and failed.
I think the whole thing might be a prank. Too crazy to be true.
Why would you say something like that? There's no indication of any such thing. The guy could've gotten seriously injured or, yes, even killed. Without a shred of evidence to support such a mean-spirited thought you go and post it. You're a sad little person.
I read a story about this earlier, minus picture. I figured after I saw a picture I’d understand how he possible could have gotten stuck on there. I still don’t get it. When crossing the street, one aims oneself perpendicular to the stopped traffic (those of us who walk do so because it makes sense, those who travel in wheelchairs do so because their chairs simply aren’t equipped to roll sideways). So how the heck did this guy manage to roll in front of the truck and get latched onto its grill at a 90 degree angle to the direction he had to have been rolling in ??? I can sorta kinda maybe see how ONE of the chair handles could have gotten into the grill, but it appears that BOTH are solidly wedged in there.
And it’s impressive that the guy in the wheelchair remained calm about all this. The truck driver must have nearly had a heart attack when he saw it!
Because I get paid to listen to stories for a living and try and figure how the person is lying to me.
I said I believed he was trying to kill himself and you think that, because he could have been "..seriously injured or, yes, even killed" that I'm wrong?
My belief is predicated on the picture I saw, showing how his chair was wedged into the grill of the rig.
If you were crossing a road in front of this rig you would most likely be hit from the side (even supposing that the driver never saw you) leaving a considerable bit of doubt as to how you ended up hit from rear, pushing both handles into the grill.
Crazy stuff happens all the time and it's even on purpose sometimes.
I'm not a "small" person because I see a story that looks fishy and throws out the possibility that the guy's story is a pile of crap.
Please see post 4,6, and 8.
Watch out for the bugs.
Wonder if it is a Quickie.
No pun King Vanity has chose Quickie WC for the last 20 plus years.
Turn on Fox and Friends, he and his dad will be on the program later this morning
I used to have a boss who always said “Let the horses think, they have bigger heads” when someone said “I think”.This applies to you as well.
Actually, if you give my Mom’s wheelchair a push on the side, it will rotate into the “going forward” alignment, i.e., spin on one wheel.
Now I know how Wile E Coyote was feeling coming out of the tunnel on the front of the truck after chasing the Roadrunner inside. Then again Roadrunner was driving the truck.
I think the guy at least owes the truck driver bus fare.
I’m going into re-hab. A poster on this thread showed me that Im a small sick person for having thought those evil thoughts about that poor, poor, little man and then actually putting them into words on this website.
See ya when I get out.
In about 10 minutes.
I do think it’s a bit fishy, but would really like to see a detailed explanation by investigators. It’s theoretically possible that it happened the way he says it did — just seems like it’s in the probability range of a first time golfer hitting a hole in one on his first tee-off. What COULD have happened is that when the truck first moved forward, it hit the side of the wheelchair, and since neither the side of the wheelchair nor the grill of the truck are perfectly straight, it could have simultaneously lifted one wheel off the ground while causing the chair to spin around 90 degrees on the other wheel. With those rear handles sticking out backwards the way they do, possibly some panic reactions from young Mr. Carpenter like pressing a foot to the ground or grabbing at the grill, could have provided further assistance to getting the improbably job done.
I sort of doubt it was a suicide attempt. But given how unusually calm the victim seems to have been, I wonder if he isn’t somewhat mentally impaired, and maybe stopped in front of the truck to admire the big shiny grill. If the truck driver had seen him approaching in a motorized wheelchair doing a decent clip in a straight line, and then looked away while waiting for the light to change, he might have reasonably assumed that the wheelchair had continued on its path and gotten well out of the way, even without actually seeing it emerge to the other side of the truck.
All very weird. Glad everyone’s okay. Suspect engineers at the company that designed the wheelchair are presently engaged in a very unusual special project.
If he wanted to commit suicide why would he use a cross walk.
I know many many WC bound people and one thing I know is the will to live and pride they take to be as independant as possible is awesome.
I hope the fellow gets a faster chair as they can go up to 15mph.
You are entitled to your opinion as that is what is great about FR.
I just happen to know alot of WC bound disabled folks with more spirit and zest for life then some non disabled folks.
And they don’t whine like other minorities about being hated due to there circumstances. Nor due they take life for granted, they are fighters.
Check out our sevicemen coming home missing limbs or other serious injuries, they fight like hell to live and be independant.
;His head rest is an otto boc brand and it has an steel rod that extends out in the back.
I have to cut KV’s down else it pokes me right in the breastbone when using the tilt in space feature of his chair.
We also have a carraig bar on the back to extend the handles to push his manual chair with more strength, comfort and endurance.
If this fellow had that feature his chair would not have got pinned in to the grill and he would not be here to tell about his big ride.
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