BMW hits tree and explodes in local neighborhood.

MrElussive · Dec 8, 2004

epj3 said:

Because history always repeats itself. Giving a new driver a fast car is the worst thing a parent can do. When you're 16/17, you're all cocky and no brains. I don't think I care how "safe" teenagers think they are, I did stupid shit all the time with my car and I didn't even have a sporty car until 17 months ago.
At my high school, there were always kids you'd hear about, whether a grade above or below you, who totaled their own sports car or their father's sports car while taking it out one day....

jrt67ss350 · Dec 8, 2004

This is off topic, but this talk of kids with fast cars and totaling their father's sports cars made a memory of mine pop into my head.

When I was in middle school, I remember this night where I was watching a movie with my parents. While we were in the middle of the movie, we heard this loud thud outside the front of the house. I got up to investigate what had made the noise and just about crapped when I saw the front end of a Porsche 911 sitting in the middle of a neighbor's front yard just staring back at me with those two big round headlights. I immediately walked down the street to see what had happened.

Well, the street that my parents' house is on has a wide sweeping right hand curve right after my parents' house. This high school kid and a friend were out joyriding in his dad's 911 Targa while his dad was out of town. He obviously didn't know how to handle the 911, came flying around that curve (all the roads in our densely packed neighborhood have a speed limit of 25 mph, by the way) and lost it. He took out the neighbor's mailbox which was right next to a big street drain. When the car hit the drain, it swung the back end of the car around up over the curb and planted the car in the middle of the front yard facing in the opposite direction.

It was a beautiful car, but now it had a big dent in the passenger side fender from where he had hit the mailbox and the driver's side front rim was toast from where it had hit the drain. However, that damage was nothing compared to what had happened to the back end of the car. The thing that made me really wince was that when the car had been swung around over the curb, the entire rear suspension and exhaust system was ripped completely out of the car. My knowledge of the anatomy of Porsches made me wonder what kind of damage was probably done to the bottom of the engine afer seeing the extend of the damage the suspension and exhaust had sustained.

I stuck around until the tow truck came and towed it away. It was painful to watch the car be pulled up onto the flatbed truck with the rear of the car dragging on the ground.

Fortunately no one was injured, but this was just a testament as to what can happen when a teenager gets behind the wheel of a true sports car that he or she has no idea how to handle and then proceeds to act irresponsibly with it.

On the other hand, I know lots of kids that had nice, sporty, powerful cars that acted very responsibly with them. Plus, you can raise hell and act irresponsible and dangerous in any car, no matter how much or little power it has. Just because a car doesn't have much power doesn't mean you can't drive it fast or recklessly. One of my best buddies in high school was always raising hell and acting dangerous, and he had an E36 318i Automatic that couldn't get out of its own way. IMO, it all comes down to the individual and how mature/immature that person is. It isn't the car's fault - the car doesn't drive itself.

MrElussive · Dec 8, 2004

That's true, but most teenagers are irresponsible and cocky, and they just have no idea how much damage and harm they can cause to themselves and to others by driving fast. There is also the fact that a sports car is much more encouraging and easier to drive fast.

And if somebody gets a sports car and doesn't go fast with it, then what's the point?? You don't need a sports car if you never accelerate hard or take the turns hard, or basically take use of the advantages it offers over a standard car.

We have a name for sports car drivers who are really just posers: GAY

codex57 · Dec 8, 2004

jrt67ss350 said:

It's not always the driver either. It's often the passengers egging the driver on. That's why some states have restrictions on new teen drivers. I think in Cali, you can't have any passengers your first few months. I know one very responsible driver in high school who had a Supra Turbo. Never raced it. Never. Yes he went fast occasionally, but never did anything stupid. Then his buddy convinced him to take it out to lunch one day and try a 90 degree turn at over 60 miles an hour. He never would have done that on his own, but you know what stupid ideas kids can come up with when they get together. Luckily, there was no accident in that case altho there were plenty of close calls as he tried to correct his slide.

Yeah, you guessed it. That buddy egging him on was me. [rofl]

MrElussive · Dec 8, 2004

That's a good point, codex. Peer pressure can be very powerful in a car. The thing is, when I was 17-19, I always did sooo much stupid shit in cars and I look back now and realize how much of an idiot I was. But at the same time, new drivers always do shit like this. It really takes a loooong time to learn that there is simply no room for a driver's aggressive attitude on the road, yet all these car copmanies keep increasing power, handling, and braking for the sake of competition, even if the car has nothing to do with sport. I think the US should give us our own autobahn. [driving2]

dmband8985 · Dec 9, 2004

the kid is on bail waiting trial

yeah, i don't think there is anyway he'll get out of this one, if he does i will officially have lost all faith in the system (as if I have any right now). regarding all of your guys other posts, i agree to some extent, a kid's first car shouldn't be a fast car, its just like putting a gun in the hands of a killer, this is only because new drivers just don't have the experience to be able to handle, not so much that they are not capable of driving one resposibly. Plus from a purely economic stand point it doen't make sense with ridiculous insurance rates it will carry. I know for that kid with that was responsible for that hit and run dui, his insurance for his old car the bmw 330 ci with hamman kit (this was his actual car, no lies: http://pics.inaux.com/my_car/ ) was more than my entire family's and we have two teenage drivers. Obviously it was even greater when he got the m3 cause he already had a few tickets and its a faster car. At the same time, I know people who are responsible with really nice cars, probably because they've invested (either by rebuilding it, or by buying it themselves) so much into their cars that they wouldn't dare do something stupid with it.

jrt67ss350 · Dec 9, 2004

dmband8985 said:

Love the stickers. [hah]

tool fan · Dec 9, 2004

Ask the Iraqis..............they are very good at making cars explode. I know guys not funny...Sorry

olias · Jan 16, 2005

This kid can get up to 10 years for each vehicular manslaughter, plus a mandatory 5 years for hit and run with a fatality (2 counts). Thirty years maximum exposure, but in CA, he gets one day of credit for every day he serves. He's got three choices: 1) Go to trial, but in Orange County, the jury will hang him. 2) Cop a plea with the DA, but again, it's Orange County, so the DA won't give him much, especially considering his history. 3) Admit guilt to all counts and be sentenced by a judge. If the parents are powerful, theoretically they could influence the judge. But, being an elected official, the judge would get drilled by the media and voters if he let the kid off too easy.

BMW hits tree and explodes in local neighborhood.

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