Posted on 10/21/2003 9:53:06 AM PDT by mhking
NEW YORK -- A 14-year-old boy who was "surfing" on the roof of a subway train was killed when his head struck an overhead beam and he fell to the tracks.
Eric Alvarez of Harlem was found dead on the tracks between two stations in lower Manhattan at about 4:45 p.m. Monday, said Detective Carolyn Chew.
While Alvarez was riding home from school, his friends dared him to climb to the top of the train, a practice known as "subway surfing," said Marisa Balde, a spokeswoman for New York City Transit.
He apparently had climbed the rear of a car and had reached the top when his head struck a steel beam in the ceiling of the subway tunnel, Balde said.
Another train ran over the tracks where Alvarez had fallen. Initially, it appeared that the second train killed him, but investigations showed that he probably died of head injuries and the impact of his fall, Balde said.
Alvarez was described as a computer whiz.
He "was extremely smart, too smart for that happened to him," an aunt, Haydee Alvarez, told the New York Post.
It's more an example of Newton's Third Law; specifically the equal and opposite forces exerted by the head and the beam on each other.
The only time there was any danger was when a Campus Policeman took the elevator up to the top floor and stopped the elevator -- my friends were stuck facing a brick wall (if the elevator is stopped at floor N and you are on top you can get out at floor N+1 if there is a floor N+1). What the CP didn't realize is that there were also people surfing the adjacent elevator, who came up and rescued the miscreants he thought he had trapped. Of course, they had to leave the elevator with the CP in it stuck on the top floor (the "stop" button on the roof of the car overrides the "stop" button inside the car, and had to be set so that there was no danger of the cop making the elevator go down while people were crossing over to the next one).
#81. If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw.
http://www.darwinawards.com/rules/
The candidate must be capable of sound judgment.
Humans are generally capable of sound judgment, except those with mental handicaps that render them unable to fully comprehend the ramifications of their actions.
A vociferous majority argues that children also fit into this category, citing the vast gulf between ignorance and stupidity. An equally clamorous minority contends that children are the best candidates for a rusty chromosome award, since they obviously have not reproduced. Some children have stated that restricting children from vying for this laudable award is yet another encroachment on their civil liberties.
I appreciate that parents are responsible for raising their offspring and teaching them to make responsible decisions. Therefore children under sixteen are not eligible to win a Darwin Award. However, a few have been included as nominees, when their actions can be considered foolhardy by even their young peers.
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