Run a stop sign, drive off a cliff

by Jason Sanders | September 26, 2008 at 09:10 am

2779 views | 7 Recommendations | 44 comments

It's midnight. Benjamin Vandermeir sees the stop sign but ignores the bright red octogon that his headlights momentarily illuminate, before passing by -- without stopping. A deputy on patrol sees the incident and gives chase, but some quick thinking and a lead foot allows the suspect to escape on 40th street. He misses a turn on Lown street, barrels through a chain link fence, and flies down a ravine.

Emergency workers helped remove the 22-year-old from his 1990 Red Ford Thunderbird and took him to Bayfront Medical Center for treatment.

"Our rescue units accessed the situation and realized we were going to need the tech rescue team, the Pinellas County heavy rescue team, to come out to help extradite the patient," said Chief Richard Porter of the Lealman Special Fire Control District. "They had to cut the doors off with the Jaws of Life."

Vandermeir, of 5650 11th Ave. N., had his license revoked for five years in July, deputies said. He is charged with fleeing and eluding and with being a habitual traffic offender, both felonies.

Check out NowPublic's photos from the scene of the crime, and the location where he collided with the chainlink fencemade possible by Google Maps and Google Street View.

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SFSkyscraper

at 11:17 on September 26th, 2008

Funny that my photo was requested for this story. In 1976 I witnessed an almost identical accident with a car flying off of a freeway ramp at my vehicle.

SFSkyscraper has contributed a photo to this story.

Redboy

at 11:31 on September 26th, 2008

Even an 8 year old knows what it means

Redboy has contributed a photo to this story.

epics18™

at 11:47 on September 26th, 2008

http://www.flickr.com/people/epics18/

epics18™ has contributed a photo to this story.

morgan.laforge

at 13:05 on September 26th, 2008

morgan.laforge has contributed a photo to this story.

Sister Rye

at 15:28 on September 26th, 2008

http://www.uglydoggy.com/2008/07/its-friday-just-stop.html

Sister Rye has contributed a photo to this story.

Amy Judd

at 15:57 on September 26th, 2008

He's lucky he survived - that's crazy

Alex Esau

at 16:13 on September 26th, 2008

Spend every minute in the moment, cause the moment's all there is.

Alex Esau has contributed a photo to this story.

idahoboy99

at 19:30 on September 26th, 2008

idahoboy99 has contributed a photo to this story.

sarahthielke

at 20:35 on September 26th, 2008

Just your average stop sign in Pennsylvania.

sarahthielke has contributed a photo to this story.

Streetsim

at 21:35 on September 26th, 2008

This stop sign is right next to an Elementary School in Hamden, Connecticut, where traffic laws have recently been tightened.

Streetsim has contributed a photo to this story.

killbox

at 21:46 on September 26th, 2008

No cliffs here, just a rainbow outside SantaFe NM

killbox has contributed a photo to this story.

Nick Leonard

at 00:15 on September 27th, 2008

An average stop sign leading cars out of a Target parking lot.

Nick Leonard has contributed a photo to this story.

rachelworkman_1903

at 00:26 on September 27th, 2008

ouch

musical photo man

at 00:37 on September 27th, 2008

I was struck by the red on green here. The STOP sign was sued for single-flow traffic during roadworks in Chapelizod, Dublin, Ireland. I didn't hear of any accidents.

musical photo man has contributed a photo to this story.

deflorio2

at 04:38 on September 27th, 2008

Just a cold winters night by the side of the road.

deflorio2 has contributed a photo to this story.

smiley6658

at 05:06 on September 27th, 2008

There is not much to tell - one day I was just out playing w/my camera - stopped and took the pic

smiley6658 has contributed a photo to this story.

Bwanajoni

at 05:23 on September 27th, 2008

This photograph, I thought...characterised NYC traffic and its people. So much going on, decide quickly. Being British...look left, look right...its One Way....too slow!

Bwanajoni has contributed a photo to this story.

rahy-uhn

at 05:32 on September 27th, 2008

rahy-uhn has contributed a photo to this story.

MikeRyu

at 05:36 on September 27th, 2008

Neighborhood stop sign everyone seems to roll through....

kyshots

at 06:16 on September 27th, 2008

See a stop sign? STOP... it's there for a reason.

kyshots has contributed a photo to this story.

ShaneWyatt

at 06:36 on September 27th, 2008

As you can see from the blur in this photo we ALMOST ran this sign. I was shooting pics from a golf cart on this wonderful Island of Holbox off the coast of Quitana Roo, Mexico. Golf carts are the only thing you can drive on this island! Google it! Thanks for checking out my photos!

ShaneWyatt has contributed a photo to this story.

mannyparky

at 07:41 on September 27th, 2008

it's enough to make me stop....

Sinister Rules has contributed a photo to this story.

sis15

at 08:07 on September 27th, 2008

I just thought this would make a cute picture. So I stoped and took it.

sis15 has contributed a photo to this story.

JMCatrow

at 08:49 on September 27th, 2008

A photo of an upside-down stop sign in my hometown of Martinsburg,WV. I took this photo back in 2005, I think... not sure if it's been fixed or not haha.

JMCatrow has contributed a photo to this story.

_ExcuseMySarcasm_

at 09:23 on September 27th, 2008

Heh.

le fabuleux vicky

at 10:35 on September 27th, 2008

le fabuleux vicky has contributed a photo to this story.

.zmc.photography

at 10:49 on September 27th, 2008

The story behind this photo was just to test the HDR effect. I was by a Chinese restaurant, and I thought the stop sign would be a good shot for the HDR effect.

.zmc.photography has contributed a photo to this story.