74 year old injured imitating stunt from “Jackass”

Birmingham, AL- Longtime Meadowlake nursing home resident and retired engineer Laurel Anderson was hospitalized Thursday after sustaining injuries to his back and head, the result of a crash on his 3-wheeled motorized scooter.

According to witnesses, Mr. Anderson had built a crude ramp consisting of a plywood board and a tall pile of bricks. The ramp had been placed at the bottom of a steep incline, behind which fellow Meadowlake resident Clive Buckner, 79, had laid. Although he successfully cleared both the ramp and Mr. Buckner, the 74 year-old Anderson lost control of the scooter upon landing, flipping over the handlebars.

“We’re just happy he’s still alive” said Anderson’s son Richard Anderson. “I don’t know what he was thinking, but we’re very disappointed.” Mr. Anderson (Jr.) expressed concern that the event was rumored to have been filmed by other residents at the home. “Surely someone should have stood up and seen this was a bad idea” he said. Police report that when they arrived at the scene, a large crowd of nursing home residents scattered back inside.

One nursing home resident believes the men probably got the idea from Buckner’s visiting grandson, who often described to them stunts from “Jackass”, the 2002 MTV film depicting outlandish, often crude stunts.

A spokesman for Lark Industries, makers of the Rascal Sport model used by Mr. Anderson, said that although their manuals clearly illustrate the safe use of their scooters, such accidents have become an increasingly common trend. “Right after Jackass, we were getting 4 or 5 calls a month from customers curious if there was a way to speed up their scooters” said Norm Jabowski.

“Now the big thing is customization- air horns, extra batteries, custom rims” added Jabowski. “And from time to time you get one of these daredevils trying to relive their youth. Unfortunately when you have seniors pent-up with nothing to do all day, this can be the result.”

In one of the film’s scenes, cast members had themselves disguised as elderly men before taking to the streets and performing a number of dangerous stunts on similar scooters. “What Mr. Anderson failed to understand” said Jabowski, “is not only are those guys in a lot better shape than he is, they were also riding souped-up Cyclone Turbos.”

According to Jabowski, the Cyclones are known commonly in the industry as ‘the Cadillac’ of personal mobility scooters.

Ordinarily, the top speed of most scooters is 4-8 mph. Preliminary results from the investigation indicate that Mr. Anderson’s scooter had to have been traveling at more than 20 mph to have cleared the jump as he did. Jabowski says that although frowned upon by more reputable dealers, a few shops are willing to radically alter a scooter’s drive train to achieve speeds higher than 30 mph.