# 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:** 3
**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, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/41 "2018-04-18T22:19:36Z")
> [@andros](#): > > That’s definitely not a thing. > . Sure, it’s a thing. A movie by Romero and written by Stephen King. There may have been A Creepshow 2. The show was a collection of short stories. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/42 "2018-04-18T22:31:16Z")
I don’t think “a thing” means what you think it does. ETA: cheese ---
**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, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/43 "2018-04-18T22:41:19Z")
I was just saying that maybe how the story was spread around. I understand he was talking about real events. I have never heard of it in real life. And the cheese comment is just rude. IMO ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/44 "2018-04-18T22:53:29Z")
it was, yes - I am bad. ---
**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, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/45 "2018-04-18T22:55:17Z")
A little extra cheese on top is always a welcome addition, I always say. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/46 "2018-04-18T23:21:13Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > 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 Exactly. This was a thing in the 1940s, the idea of arm loss while driving. Burma Shaves signs died by the 1960s. My grandfather had one of the books mentioned in the Wiki below, which is how I knew this verse. (I remembered “elbow” as “arm”, but still same slogan.) > **[Burma-Shave](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burma-Shave)** > > Burma-Shave was an American brand of brushless shaving cream, famous for its advertising gimmick of posting humorous rhyming poems on small sequential highway roadside signs. > Burma-Shave was introduced in 1925 by the Burma-Vita company in Minneapolis owned by Clinton Odell. The company's original product was a liniment made of ingredients described as having come "from the Malay Peninsula and Burma" (hence its name). Sales were sparse, and the company sought to expand sales by introducing a pr... ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/47 "2018-04-18T23:36:19Z")
> [@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.” Sideswipe is what I wrote. As others have noted, the shape of cars have changed significantly in recent years. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/48 "2018-04-18T23:57:21Z")
It may be in Olden Times, when one recounted their lost-arm story, the loss of the car wasn’t considered worth mentioning, or it was assumed. But, yeah, I can see this being more of a thing back when cars were newer. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/49 "2018-04-19T00:01:43Z")
I never heard of this while growing up. We _did_ get told that you should never stick your head out a school bus window because kids got decapitated that way, though. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/50 "2018-04-19T00:20:04Z")
> [@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. Pretty common in dense urban zones, where streets are narrow. Common street smarts around here is to fold your mirror in when you park on narrow 2 way streets, as parked cars get theirs torn off, whereas 2 vehicles going opposite ways might just have mirrors fold in? It also gives 2 drivers passing each other a “bit” more room:eek: Todays mirrors are expensive to replace. I forget if the folding mirrors are mandated for pedestrian contact? Heres a thread. [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-770408.html](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-770408.html) ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/51 "2018-04-19T02:22:12Z")
There was also the case of the drunk driver nearby Atlanta, who hit something and decapitated his best friend who had hit head out the window, to puke? Anyway he didn’t notice and pulled in his driveway and went inside to sleep thinking his buddy was passed out. He didn’t realize what went down till the next morning. [https://www.google.com/amp/www.foxnews.com/story/2004/08/30/passenger-decapitated-in-drunken-car-crash.amp.html](https://www.google.com/amp/www.foxnews.com/story/2004/08/30/passenger-decapitated-in-drunken-car-crash.amp.html) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/52 "2018-04-19T03:34:43Z")
This is sobering… I have a small convertible roadster car, a BMW Z3, and am frequently in the habit of hanging my left elbow over the door sill with the top down while cruising. Not in traffic, but the truly open road should be safe? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/53 "2018-04-19T04:01:58Z")
I’ve lost 14 arms from this kind of reckless driving. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/54 "2018-04-19T04:27:03Z")
In my circle of friends we found many strange and unusual ways to injure ourselves but this was never one of them. The closest we came was one fellow who smashed his hand all to heck on a mailbox but he stuck his hand out intending on slapping the box on purpose. Oh — and that one guy who used to stiff-arm the kick-pedal of his Harley until the day it backfired and shattered his arm. Like I said ----- we found ways. If this was indeed a thing I would put some on the old bench seats we all had back then and how close to the door you could sit. My 59 wagon, when I rested my arm (bent to keep my Camel handy) out the window, at least 80% of it was in the wind. With the bucket seats and how my Subaru sits I am lucky if the elbow itself is totally clear. Makes it harder to get a good smashing. ---
**Author:** ![AZ\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@AZ\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZ_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/55 "2018-04-19T04:34:09Z")
I call BS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Analog-Aptitude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Analog-Aptitude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Analog-Aptitude)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/56 "2018-04-19T04:45:21Z")
I suppose it’s been a thing since the first cars. Here’s a video of a ‘how’ & graphic after photo from Brasil posted a couple weeks ago. > **[ItemFix - Social Video Factory](https://www.itemfix.com/?r=ll)** > > Social Video Factory ---
**Author:** ![Analog-Aptitude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Analog-Aptitude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Analog-Aptitude)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/57 "2018-04-19T04:52:57Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I doubt it was ever a “thing.” A rare freak accident maybe. Within the last week or so I opened a link I knew better than to open and saw a similar recent accident. Someone was driving through a gas station parking lot with his arm out the window and clipped another car. The arm wasn’t completely off but pretty close. This > **[ItemFix - Social Video Factory](https://www.itemfix.com/?r=ll)** > > Social Video Factory ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/58 "2018-04-19T13:01:14Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > 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. There’s been more than one of these. The first one that came to mind was **The Hand** (1981), made by a young pre-Platoon, pre-JFK Oliver Stone and starring Michael Caine as a cartoonist who loses his right hand to a passing truck (He’s in the passenger seat, waving a car around). It’s notable as having the most wonderfully ludicrous-looking moving hand of any animated amputated hand movie – the problem is that hands oughtn’t to be able to move very fast (they crawl on five fingers), but Caine’s hand goes almost _shooting_ aroun the room. It’s fast. Then there’s the “Disembodied Hand” episode in **Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors** (1965). I suspect this is the one you’re thinking of. Painter Michael Gough (Batman’s butler Alfred in the Tim Burton movies) is opposed by Evil Art Critic Christopher Lee, who runs over the painter, effectively amputating his hand. The painter commits suicide, but his hand revenges itself on the critic, ultimately forcing him into a traffic accident where he loses his eyes. There are lots of other disembodied hand movies, but I can’t think of any others where it’s the result of a car accident. There’s the 1946 movie **The Beast with Five Fingers** in which the hand belonged to a concert pianist (played by Victor Francen) who gets poisoned, falls down the stairs, and breaks his neck. No cars involved. In fact, no obvious cutting off of the hand. ---
**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 19, 2018, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/59 "2018-04-19T14:16:19Z")
^^^thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623/60 "2018-04-19T15:32:37Z")
> [@AZ\_Jim](#): > > I call BS!!! On anything in particular, or just a general railing against the world? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-arm-amputation-by-car-window-is-that-still-a-thing/812623.md?page=4)