Man Chases Butt Out Car Window At 60 mph

Drinking, passengering and smoking were a near-deadly combination for Jeff Foran, 38.

After a night of heavy drinking last Saturday, May 21, Foran asked his buddy Jerry Glenn Nelson, 44, to perform designated driver duties and the pair was driving eastbound at about 60 mph on Arkanas 234 near the Oklahoma border.

Foran was smoking a cigarette in the front passenger seat with the window open when his grip faltered, or the wind gusted, or a perfect-storm combination of the two sucked the precious butt into the rushing darkness. Foran followed in hot pursuit and suffered trauma to his nose, eyes and chin when he came into intimate contact with the highway. No word on the wayward cigarette.

“It was obvious he was extremely intoxicated and this man was hurt,” Arkansas state police Trooper Jamie Gravier told AP. “If anything could make him stop smoking, this should be it. The man is lucky to be alive.”

I believe the drinking is a greater immediate threat to the gentleman’s health.

And speaking of his health, it sounds like Foran wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, which might have retarded the impulse to leap a bit. A helmet might have been helpful, also, but hindsight is 20/20.