# Remember arm amputation by car window? Is that still a thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2018, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623 "2018-04-18T07:37:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/21 "2018-04-18T16:02:25Z")
An [article](https://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/accidents-hazardous-conditions/lose-head-hand-out-vehicle-car-window.htm) on this topic. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/22 "2018-04-18T16:03:40Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > “My Rolex! My beautiful Rolex!” > > Never heard of anyone losing an arm just from dangling it out the car window. However, I did have an acquaintance in college who was touring Europe; he stuck his head out of the top hatch of a bus to take pictures, when the bus went under a low bridge and decapitated him. :eek: That one’s confirmed. What’s losing one’s head have to do with a Rolex? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/23 "2018-04-18T16:04:28Z")
It actually happened to an elementary school classmate. His arm wasn’t torn off, but his hand was smashed and his wrist and forearm were frozen in a permanently crooked position. I ran into him once years later. They had managed to straighten out his wrist somewhat, but it didn’t have much function. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/24 "2018-04-18T16:06:11Z")
No, I don’t remember that. I imagine if there was a peak for that it was when everybody was smoking and few cars had AC. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/25 "2018-04-18T16:11:01Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > …like the girl with spiders living in her beehive hairdo. How often does that happen nowadays? A lot, or all the time? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/26 "2018-04-18T16:34:11Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > An [article](https://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/accidents-hazardous-conditions/lose-head-hand-out-vehicle-car-window.htm) on this topic. Thank you for posting the link. It’s hard to find much information. The news stories from my youth aren’t online. I vaugely recall some PSA’s, but it’s been too long ago. There were a lot done on various topics. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/27 "2018-04-18T16:45:13Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I know someone whose college football career was cut short from losing an arm like this. The car he was in was sideswiped by another vehicle. It was pretty big news here at the time. His life took a serious downturn after that and ended up in jail. > > Why would anyone think this would be an urban legend? Accidents happen all the time, but only rarely does it get reported what specific injuries occurred. Usually the accidents themselves aren’t even news. There’s a difference between “getting a car accident where your arm is cut off” and “getting your arm cut off because a truck passed close enough hit it without doing any damage to your car.” ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/28 "2018-04-18T17:12:12Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > It was the sort of pre-internet urban legend that got passed around in middle school, The one our teacher told us before a field trip was where a girl stuck her head out the bus window, the bus went around a corner, her head hit the stop sign and decapitated her, and her body fell back into the bus. My parents never rested their arms on the car window ledges and I was never allowed to so much as put my fingers out the window. Now one of my favourite things about driving is hanging my arm out the window. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/29 "2018-04-18T17:15:50Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > What’s losing one’s head have to do with a Rolex? 😕 That was a standalone joke (the guy is more upset about losing his nice watch than his arm), unrelated to the other anecdote about decapitation. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/30 "2018-04-18T17:24:28Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > There’s a difference between “getting a car accident where your arm is cut off” and “getting your arm cut off because a truck passed close enough hit it without doing any damage to your car.” But…but…how do you not see the car coming dangerously close to you and not pull your arm back in? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/31 "2018-04-18T18:26:09Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Now one of my favourite things about driving is hanging my arm out the window. Growing up in Connecticut, much of the year it’s too cold to even have the windows open. So when summer comes and it’s nice out, one of my minor pleasures was hanging my hand out the window and enjoying the breeze. (And it’s rural enough that you’re more likely to clip a tree or shrub branch than another car.) ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/32 "2018-04-18T19:05:58Z")
An actual set of “verse by the side of the road” signs: Don’t stick your elbow Out too far Or it may go home In another car BURMA SHAVE ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/33 "2018-04-18T19:13:15Z")
If this happened a lot in the past, or even nowdays, you’d think there’d be dozens and dozens of occurances of people’s side mirrors getting clipped of their cars. You just don’t see that kind of thing happening. If it does it’s usually getting clipped while pulling into a garage or parking too close to someone. Never hear of a mirror getting clipped by a passing vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/34 "2018-04-18T19:24:25Z")
Actually, that happened to a friend from college, when he was visiting me in southcentral Connecticut. We were going down a 45MPH street, and the car in the opposing lane was a little too far over and clipped my friend’s side view mirror. They didn’t stop, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/35 "2018-04-18T19:41:24Z")
I’ve been driving for fifty years and have never been involved in an accident that would have resulted in an arm amputation. I have never heard of anyone ever losing an arm in this manner. Is it still a thing? Was it ever a thing is the question I ask. A couple of dimly remembered folktales don’t make a trend. Do you see a lot of one-armed septuagenarians walking about? If not, what has happened to all these folks who lost arms due to car window accidents? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/36 "2018-04-18T21:38:19Z")
While I can easily believe that sticking your arm straight out of your window to catch wind (or sticking your head out, for that matter) could result in its forceful removal, I have a hard time time believing that merely resting your elbow on your sill without sticking it out would result in it being removed without your car also being damaged. The few times I’ve rested my arm on my windowsill it didn’t extend outside the car even an inch. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/37 "2018-04-18T21:51:54Z")
There was a horror flick about a pianist whose hand was amputated as he was driving. The hand came back and haunted him. I don’t remember the name. Seems like it may have been on a Creep Show episode. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/38 "2018-04-18T22:02:35Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > If this happened a lot in the past, or even nowdays, you’d think there’d be dozens and dozens of occurances of people’s side mirrors getting clipped of their cars. You just don’t see that kind of thing happening. If it does it’s usually getting clipped while pulling into a garage or parking too close to someone. Never hear of a mirror getting clipped by a passing vehicle. You’d also think that there would be lots of instances of dogs losing their tongues. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/39 "2018-04-18T22:06:36Z")
I remember reading about arm amputations in this manner. I even remember reading about one guy who had his arm ripped off, and didn’t notice until 600 miles later. Of course, I read about these in the National Enquirer. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/40 "2018-04-18T22:09:48Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > …a Creep Show episode. That’s definitely not a thing. . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623.md?page=3)