This is really sobering. Options

[village idiot]

Rick,

What happened to the driver's side airbag in the M3?

note aftermarket steering wheel

[bigkensteele]

I bought my first car when I was 15 from my paper route money. It was a '73 Camaro with a sluggish 350 and a 2 barrel for $300. I spent another $1500 bringing the car back to pretty nice shape (I had a buddy who worked at a body shop). I had the money for a 4 barrel and dual exhaust, but my dad would not allow it. I was pissed. A year or two later, I found a '69 Camaro Z-28 RS with a 302, hugger orange, cowl induction, etc. for $3500 (now $50k in piss-poor condition), and he would not let me buy it, even though I had the money which I had earned all by myself.

These days, I thank God that my Dad loved me enough to save me from myself.

It seems that parents these days gravitate toward the two extremes - there are those who won't let their kids ride a bike without a helmet or climb a tree, and then there are those that give their kid access to a car with 530 HP. It is sad that common sense seems to be evaporating from our parental society as quickly as Britney Spears does something stupid. The two couldn't possibly be related.

Ken

[pete914]

Before getting the 'teener I owned an e36 M3. What an awesome sports car. Even with 240HP it was still a wild beast if you allowed it to be. Cars are dangerous. Period. Although this was mega-stupid. Lots of people die from going too fast in their cars.

[rhodyguy]

plus 4 of his friends. sad story.

k

[mudfoot76]

I saw that story on Jalopnik a few nights ago and followed it over to the M5 board. Yes, from the kid's demeanor, it was pretty evident that he was going to turn himself into a stain. Even though the car was technically his father's, in his posts he always tried to make it seem that it was his personal vehicle. There were some news clips interviewing classmates of the dead idiots and it seems like the classic spoiled-rich-kids-who-think-rules-don't-apply-to-them mindset.

I guess it is sad that 5 familes lost their sons. It is sad that those 5 sets of parents somehow failed to instill some common sense into their children.

[davep]

It is sad that those 5 sets of parents somehow failed to instill some common sense into their children.

Common sense is very rare these days, especially in those under 50. It is hardly any wonder that parents cannot properly teach their kids. That is sad. Good for a Darwin Award.

[rick 918-S]

This is a repete-able event. Everyone with children on this BBS should make a pact with all of us to learn from this.

I'm going to share something here. One of my sons is a car guy. I will always remember his first drive by himself after getting his lic. at age 16. He asked if he could go to a friends house about 3 miles away. We had been practicing driving with a manual transmission and he was proficient enough with it to opporate the clutch in normal traffic. He asked if he could take my E12 530I.

As you all know Nothing I own is ever stock and this car was no exception. 5 sp conversion, free flow 533I manifolds, open exhaust, lamda injection conversion, etc. I tossed him the keys and told him to be careful. His face lit up with a beaming grin and his buddy could hardly contain he excitment. It felt good to me as well. But I knew this could go both ways.

I went up to my office on the third floor of my house. As he rolled away from the house everything was cool. But with my office window open I could hear him drop the hammer and wind up my big 6 2 blocks from the house. I called him on his cell phone and busted him!

Then I got on the net and signed him up for the Teen Driving Clinic through the Northstar Chapter of the BMWCCA. By the time the class arrived We had Purchased a VW GTI from the Salvage auction and completed the repairs together. This was a very enlightning experience for him. He brought 3 friends with him. They all went through the instruction and we talked about safe ways to enjoy your car in controlled environments.

After that day I allowed him to take my E36 M3 to school. I'm sure he had his moments. When the cats away... you know. But he'll be 21 soon and has never had an accident or ticket... yet.

I'm not saying I'm a perfect parent, I'm far from it. But I'm just saying we need to do what we can to teach our children.

I'm confident that the things I did helped. AS I stated above, not all kids mature the same. The photos of my M3 posted above were the result of a kid with no instruction. Before I sold the car to that kid I had the talk with him. I cautioned him about the car and told him he should take the Teen Driving School. His parents were divorced, (his dad was a detective...) But they payed no attension to him. Thankfully both kids in that car are alive.

Learn from this and teach your children well.

[SLITS]

The sad part is the idiot took friends with him. This one I hang on the parents ... 4 citations and they still let him have the car. I taught my kids and each, thankfully, came out to be a decent driver.

Sad, but it repeats itself due to lack of due diligence by the parents.

Yeh, I'm an asshole.

[sean_v8_914]

...natural selection.

[gopack]

The sad part is the idiot took friends with him. This one I hang on the parents ... 4 citations and they still let him have the car. I taught my kids and each, thankfully, came out to be a decent driver.

Sad, but it repeats itself due to lack of due diligence by the parents.

Yeh, I'm an asshole.

Parents don't raise rich kids, they simply hire someone else to do it. saw it all the time when i lived in Dallas. very sad to see them with everything in the world except what they want and need most....LOVE.

[Root_Werks]

This is a repete-able event. Everyone with children on this BBS should make a pact with all of us to learn from this.

<snip>

Learn from this and teach your children well.

Rick, that was a great story and thank you for sharing. You remind me of my father (Not to age you or anything) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

By the time I was 17 I had a 68' 911L that was much more of a car than a 17 year old should have had. But my father was much like you. He was a huge car guy himself and was proud I could work, school (Good grades) and afford the payments on the 911. I did get a couple of tickets in it over the years, but nothing major.

I think most of it is in the parenting.

[PeeGreen 914]

I must agree that parents dropped the ball here. Very sad that they now have to live with that. Good lesson to us all that we need to be involved with our kids and not let society raise them as they will fail.

[BMXerror]

Manual transmission? What? (from the article. NVM)
I said it on the sandbox, I'll say it again here. No sympathy! I don't pitty the kids, because they're dead now. They can't tell the difference. I don't pitty the driver because he KNEW he was in over his head and still continued to drive like an ass. The only people I may have some sympathy for is the parents of the other kids. They may or have known about "Josh's" driving history, but it's unlikely.
Hopefully the parents of the driver will get a wake up call from this. However, as it always is with people, "It's not my fault. He was just a reckless kid", or much more likely "BMW shouldn't have made such a fast car. Time to sue!" I will say that I'm glad that they wiped out into a tree off the runway instead of into a minivan on the highway.
And by the way, you can kill yourself just as dead with a 70 HP teener, or anything else for that matter. When I see the stupid ricers around here doing 110 (maxed out) in their 89 Civic Hatchback, weaving through traffic, I'm HOPING for them to pile into the center divider. I've talked to a lot of those guys, and they drive that way because they LIKE to feel out of control. That's why I get in their face when they try to compare themselves to real racers, because racing is all about being IN control. Again, I just hope they lose it off the side of a mountain, instead of into a caravan.
That being said, I take the 914 out into the canyons from time to time and have my fun with it, but if I ever start to feel out of control or AT ALL over my head, I shut down. I also leave a rather large margin of error for all the unknowns found on public roads. Do I cross the line sometimes? Maybe. But if I do something stupid and it kills me one of these days, don't pitty me.
Rant over. You can start writing your letters now.
Mark D.

[byndbad914]

all I can say is glad I am still alive. I had a 70 Mustang I found in a barn when I was 16 in Iowa and bought for $700. That car went 117mph. All the time. The front end would be floating and I would just keep going. I drove to school wide open at least once per week. Blew that thing up (broke rings on 3 pistons) within a year doing burnouts at valve float and wheel hop on a pretty regular basis.

My uncle (who was a hot rodder) warned my dad over and over again to not let me have a muscle car of any kind. I had begged to get his 64 Impala with a 400 in it he had for sale and he refused to sell it to me, then I found a 500 cube 68 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, 64 Galaxy 390 4spd, 67 Poncho with a 428, etc and I found out a few years later that each one of those cars my uncle had blocked the sale by convincing my dad to refuse to let me have it. He did all he could to save my life. He tried on the Mustang but my dad figured it was a 302, how much damage could I do?

I feel sorry for the kids. They're just kids. And I was and am a very respectful person (my dad would have kicked my ass if I forgot to hold a door for someone behind me for instance) and he was big on respect. And I was a smart kid. But I was a 16yr old male into hot rods, so that was how it worked. I don't feel sorry for the driver's parents, they gave him a loaded weapon and said go play. The passengers, again, they were just kids and having a good time. Sucks they learned a harder lesson than I was afforded.

If you are a male and over the age of 25, consider yourself lucky, or a pansy. Either way would be the only way you didn't kill yourself doing stupid shit because you either tried stupid shit and lucked out or you were too scared to try stupid shit. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

[So.Cal.914]

Cars are dangerous. Period. Although this was mega-stupid. Lots of people die from going too fast in their cars.

People are dangerous, cars are indifferent. My parents allowed me to buy a Go-cart

(paper route) and probably saved my life. LA...ya know. The best thing I ever did

was to get a 914. The handling and brakeing saved my life a few times. I think it

is an ideal car for a kid. Under powered, Great handling, great brakes and fun.

But that just me...

[andys]

Can't say I agree with the generalization of blaming the parents. Though there are certainly cases where they can be the problem, good kids (or great kids) often do things you can't imagine once out of sight. This doesn't only pertain to cars! Best chance you stand, is to teach your children to think, and stick to the values you (try to) instill in them.

Andys

[yenningComity]

[quote name='So.Cal.914' date='Feb 1 2008, 11:15 AM' post='992975']
[quote]

The best thing I ever did

was to get a 914. The handling and brakeing saved my life a few times. I think it

is an ideal car for a kid. Under powered, Great handling, great brakes and fun.

But that just me...
[/quote]
I don't think I can agree with that. The 914 is underpowered, but it doesn't give you warning about when you push it too far. I would say the best cars for a kid are underpowered fwd imports. They are cheap to run, easy to maintain, and a little more subdued when it comes to handling. At 16, just the mere fact of paying attention to the road is too much for most.

[749142]

I saw that story on Jalopnik a few nights ago and followed it over to the M5 board. Yes, from the kid's demeanor, it was pretty evident that he was going to turn himself into a stain. Even though the car was technically his father's, in his posts he always tried to make it seem that it was his personal vehicle. There were some news clips interviewing classmates of the dead idiots and it seems like the classic spoiled-rich-kids-who-think-rules-don't-apply-to-them mindset.

I guess it is sad that 5 familes lost their sons. It is sad that those 5 sets of parents somehow failed to instill some common sense into their children.

i dont have much room to talk but at least some of those kids should have been able to say hey stop and let me out b4 u kill urself and us. some just dont have the insight to see wut can happen b4 it happens. hind sight is 20 20. but they at least one of them should have had enough common sense to see were things could end up. its sad though. i think if more kids had to work to get their rides they would appreciate them and not abuse them. also parents need to sit their kids down b4 they get their license and show them a few grossom videos or pics of wut can happen out there. when i went thru driving school they showed us the video red asphault. really grossom sad and scary. and this is just one incident of hundreds of thousands around the earth. i think all kids need to see something real life that can happen to scare them into safe driving. kids are stupid and hard headed. they need to be reached somehow someway. becuz most of the time its not just the kids involved it involves innocent drivers on the road too.i live in bakersfield cali, a few months ago some street racers were racing on rosedale hwy and they ran a redlight and one of em broad sided a car with an eldery couple and killed the husband. just sad. anyways kids need to wise up. and take driving for wut it is, a privelege. if they want to race go race on a controlled track.
steven

[Joe Bob]

The little snot had FOUR tickets......MY kid would never have been a passenger let alone a driver with THAT record.

That's worse than SLIT's had back when he was driving a horse and buggy while delivering ice and moonshine....

[alpha434]

What are you talking about?

The 914 is extremely forgiving.

And those underpowered fwd imports are the ones that get raced all the time.
Subdued handling? Gas to the floor, left foot braking through the corners. Pendulum turn here let off the gas. Shift. Pendulum turn.

My first car was a 91 Mazda mx6 hatch. WAY too fast. There was a day when I "raced" the whole Conifer corvette club. Luckily, it was after my first track experiences, but I was still young, dumb, and full of drek. This was on mountain roads, that I was familiar with. Weave, weave. straight away coming up, Punch it. 110. An eighties corvette tried to give chase, but didn't have a chance.

Later that year, the same car seized in first gear on the same straight doing about the same speed.

Both times, my track experience, and fantastic training saved my life. My youth and immaturity did not.