Clemson police said a game ended up with a 23-year-old man struck by an SUV.
Emergency crews were called to the intersection of Highway 123 and College Avenue at about 9 p.m. Monday.
Clemson police Chief Jimmy Dixon said the injured man was taken Anderson Memorial Hospital by Pickens County EMS.
Investigators said they later determined that the man and his friends were talking about playing a game known as “Frogger.”
Frogger is an arcade game that was introduced in 1981. Many versions of the game can be found on Internet game sites. In the game, players move frogs through traffic on a busy road and through a river filled with hazards.
Police said before he was hit, the 23-year-old yelled “go” and darted into oncoming traffic where he was struck by a 2010 Lexus SUV.
At last check, the man was in stable condition at the hospital. No charges are expected against the driver.
A 23-year-old British man died from what the coroner said was a dangerous dose of caffeine, according to British media reports.
Information from the coroner’s inquest revealed that Michael Lee Bedford ingested two spoonfuls of pure caffeine powder that he washed down with an energy drink. Coroner Dr. Nigel Chapman said the dose Bedford consumed was equivalent to 70 cans of Red Bull.
“This should serve as a warning that caffeine is so freely available on the Internet but so lethal if the wrong dosage is taken,” Chapman said at the inquest.
A warning label on the product said only one-sixteenth of a teaspoon should be taken, but Bedford far exceeded that amount.
“He wasn’t doing anything wrong, it was just the danger of the dose he took,” said Chapman.
Though toxicologists in the U.S. say they’re not aware of any cases of people overdosing on caffeine powder, they say that caffeine overdoses are on the rise thanks in large part to the wide availability of caffeine-loaded energy drinks. They believe that increased consumption of these drinks can lead to caffeine abuse, which can lead to significant illness, injury and even death.
“It’s already a big problem,” said Bruce Goldberger, professor and director of toxicology at the University of Florida College of Medicine. “we’re a chemical-based society, because so many of us rely on psychotropic drugs to get by every day.”
“We’re seeing a lot more of it, and one of the reasons is, it’s difficult to figure out how much stimulant is in some of these products,” said Dr. Robert Hendrickson, medical toxicologist and emergency physician at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
Hendrickson explained that there may be other ingredients in many energy drinks and supplements, such as taurine and guarana, that also have caffeine in them, but there’s no indication of how much caffeine they contain.
Experts say there’s been a rise in the number of caffeine-related illnesses because more and more people are taking caffeine for a variety of reasons.
“Students are using it for studying, people are using it to try and stay awake and participate in late night social activities,” said Dr. Richard Clark, director of medical toxicology at UCSD Medical Center in San Diego, Calif.
Medical experts agree that the amount of caffeine that led to Bedford’s death is clearly fatal, and they can only speculate about why someone would choose to ingest that much caffeine.
“It’s a stimulant, so if you’re looking for a stimulant high, caffeine is perceived to be a lot safer,” said Hendrickson.
They aren’t sure how much caffeine is considered life-threatening, although they say there are ways to tell when you’ve reached the caffeine breaking point.
“Caffeine increases our heart rate and our blood pressure and in some people, their degree of anxiety,” said Goldberger.
“[You can also] develop a tremor and feel restless,” Clark added.
When people start to experience these symptoms, it’s a sure sign they’ve had too much caffeine. With extremely high doses, people may start to experience a rapid and irregular heart beat and may eventually have seizures. Death can occur within hours.
“In a life-threatening situation, it’s not unlike the effects of other well-known stimulants like cocaine and amphetamine,” said Goldberger.
Despite the dangers of very high doses of caffeine, studies have shown that caffeine can offer some benefits in small doses.
“We’re seeing a lot more of it, and one of the reasons is, it’s difficult to figure out how much stimulant is in some of these products,” said Dr. Robert Hendrickson, medical toxicologist and emergency physician at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
Hendrickson explained that there may be other ingredients in many energy drinks and supplements, such as taurine and guarana, that also have caffeine in them, but there’s no indication of how much caffeine they contain.
Experts say there’s been a rise in the number of caffeine-related illnesses because more and more people are taking caffeine for a variety of reasons.
“Students are using it for studying, people are using it to try and stay awake and participate in late night social activities,” said Dr. Richard Clark, director of medical toxicology at UCSD Medical Center in San Diego, Calif.
Medical experts agree that the amount of caffeine that led to Bedford’s death is clearly fatal, and they can only speculate about why someone would choose to ingest that much caffeine.
“It’s a stimulant, so if you’re looking for a stimulant high, caffeine is perceived to be a lot safer,” said Hendrickson.
They aren’t sure how much caffeine is considered life-threatening, although they say there are ways to tell when you’ve reached the caffeine breaking point.
“Caffeine increases our heart rate and our blood pressure and in some people, their degree of anxiety,” said Goldberger.
“[You can also] develop a tremor and feel restless,” Clark added.
When people start to experience these symptoms, it’s a sure sign they’ve had too much caffeine. With extremely high doses, people may start to experience a rapid and irregular heart beat and may eventually have seizures. Death can occur within hours.
“In a life-threatening situation, it’s not unlike the effects of other well-known stimulants like cocaine and amphetamine,” said Goldberger.
Despite the dangers of very high doses of caffeine, studies have shown that caffeine can offer some benefits in small doses.
Even if a person suffers no ill effects from consuming an energy drink, experts advise they should not be consumed regularly or over a long period of time because of all the unknowns.
They also urge people to consume any caffeinated foods and drinks in moderation.
“There is no recommended amount, so the key is to know your body and how caffeine affects it,” said Goldberger.
Experts also expressed concern over the growing trend of mixing alcohol and caffeine. This combination can be dangerous, as one recent incident showed.
A group of Central Washington University students became extremely ill after drinking Four Loko, a legal beverage that’s a mix of alcohol and caffeine. Another popular drink is a mixture of Red Bull and vodka.
“Some folks think they can drive better by mixing caffeine with alcohol, but no study confirms that,” said Clark. “Believing you can go drive this way has all kinds of problems associated with it.”
The family of Michael Bedford also has a strong message about the dangers of products like the caffeine powder that led to his death.
“I feel like it should be banned,” his grandmother told British media outlets.
“I think there should be a warning on it saying it can kill,” his aunt said.
It was Valentine’s Day in Portlandia — should anyone have been upset about a little friendly bondage action in the back of a Subaru?
Well, yes. The Portland Police Bureau was plenty upset, and the lovers, identified as Nikolas Harbar, 31, and Stephanie Pelzner, 26, are under arrest on charges of disorderly conduct in the second degree.
Portland may be a city that has always prided itself on its eccentricities, but police said the red alert that went out when Pelzner was glimpsed bound and naked in the back of the car was a Valentine too far.
It began shortly after noon on Tuesday, when someone at the New Seasons Market in north Portland reported that they had seen a naked female with duct tape on her mouth tied up in the back of a blue Subaru Legacy.
The man driving the car had told the witness they “were just having some fun,” police said in their report, but the woman in the back of the car “seemed hazy.”
The witness phoned in the license plate to the car, and the search was on.
Authorities in Washington state were alerted, in case the car traveled north across the state line on Interstate 5. Portland police began combing the city’s streets, while a patrol car zeroed in on the address where the car was registered.
By 12:56 p.m., the Subaru drove up, and when officers closed in, Harbar told them the couple was “doing some Valentine’s Day role-playing,” the police report said. Police confirmed from Pelzner “that she was voluntarily bound and nude in the back of the Subaru,” it said.
Not feeling in a loving mood — especially since at least nine police cars were tied up for 20 minutes during the search — authorities booked both of them into the Multnomah County Jail.
Since then, the Portland Police Bureau’s Facebook page has been flooded with comments, most from citizens wondering why people can’t be left to their own devices in the backs of their cars.
“Nothing wrong with that, they were just trying to have some fun, you monsters,” one man wrote.
“Keep Portland weird, man,” urged another.
Others offered helpful suggestions for pursuing the case: “She should be booked for not wearing her safety belt.”
Police say they had no way of knowing they weren’t looking for a potential murder victim.
“The concern is their actions created a pretty substantial public alarm, to the point where you have a 911 caller saying she’s concerned about this person tied up naked in the back of a car,” Lt. Robert King, bureau spokesman, told the Los Angeles Times.
“Why would the officers think it was a Valentine’s Day thing?” he said. “This kind of stuff, whether it’s being naked in the back of a car tied up, or running down the street with an airsoft gun pretending to shoot at people, it’s not OK, because it creates a lot of concern from the public.”
It's Interesting 