Received "that" dreaded phone call....

[Nick_S]

I can't even relate to that not having a child but holy crap man, I'm so glad to hear he is ok. Material items are replaceable, a life is not.

[mrsleeve]

It's been said a million times, but is still just as true.

Cars are replaceable, people aren't. I'm glad your son is OK.

+3

Josh beat me to it word for word

[naplesE30]

Glad your son is ok, his noggin must have taken a hard lick to that b pillar. Sounds like he already is an alert driver, but some accidents you just can not avoid. I am guessing he does a little track time to have the reaction to minimize the collision. So many drivers just freeze and slam on the breaks instead of trying to avoid/minimize impacts.

[graveshaker]

Glad your son is ok, his noggin must have taken a hard lick to that b pillar. Sounds like he already is an alert driver, but some accidents you just can not avoid. I am guessing he does a little track time to have the reaction to minimize the collision. So many drivers just freeze and slam on the breaks instead of trying to avoid/minimize impacts.

He autox and been playing games like grand turismo for years. I never thought playing video games could make a better driver. His first ever autox he took first place in his class. His times were in the low 30 second mirroring prepped classes. Allowing him to autox relieves the urge for him to do something silly on the street. He knows that he can safely and legally relieve tension on the autox field.
He's really sad about his first car being totaled. My wife and I keep reassuring him that accidents happen and materials are replaceable. We tell him that he's only 19 and he'll have many more cars.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Glad your sons okay. My first accident was in a e36 car saved my life aswell.

[markseven]

Glad to hear your boy is okay!

[SubDad]

It's a scary thing, to hear your kid has had an accident.
I'm glad he's OK.

[Stanley Rockafella]

glad you son's ok

e36 m3 as a first car eh...my first car was an 81 Volvo Wagon :(

[Wschnitz]

glad you son's ok

e36 m3 as a first car eh...my first car was an 81 Volvo Wagon :(

Not an M3, look at door trim.

[jalopi]

this is why there needs to be some sort of policy about old people getting retested at regular intervals... definitely a point where grandma needs her license taken away

gnarly crash though, luck was on your kid's side, that was at least a 25mph hit. at least he's still got youth on his side for recovering from those injuries

[estoguy]

Important thing is your son is ok. Speedy recovery!

[jdt10768]

steering away helped lessen the blow. That would have been very ugly to take the full brunt (just looking at the solid hit he did take). glad he is OK. BMW has a great rep for safety. Maybe not with the early cars, but later cars are very safe.

[StereoInstaller1]

Holy crap, what a mess. As everyone else has said, good to hear your son isn't hurt. Bummer about the car, but it died a good death, saving your kids life.

I gotta say though that your attitude about video games is nice to see. I don't play, but both of my adult children do, as do my grandkids, even as young as 2 and 3. I have always thought it helps with doing the right thing, having good reaction times, knowing what to do under situations like these (and AutoX too, apparently) and other life skills that most people just ignore. All those hours gaming just may have given him the clarity and reaction time to make the right choices under pressure.

The whole thing sounds like a terrible mess, but all in all, good job. Kid was alert, car was safe, proper reactions did their thing and all is way less bad than it may have been.

Thanks for sharing the story.

Luke

[TimeMachinE30]

this is why there needs to be some sort of policy about old people getting retested at regular intervals... definitely a point where grandma needs her license taken away

This is a very delicate topic and one not many governments or families are taking on. Graduated licensing and restrictions, mandatory reporting by PCP, re-testing at certain ages... very touchy and no simple answer.

And that is even if age had anything to do with this crash...

[markseven]

@jalopi driving tests / qualification needs to be more stringent across the board.