BMW M5 Forum 18yr old member killed!

[Bojmobile 0]

18yr old, 2008 M5, after a party - goes to an airfield with his mates and flies off the runway and crashes into a tree! He was posting on the M5 forum before accident about how to go faster - name American M5:-

 

Before accident:-

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showth ... p?t=111454

 

Forum's reaction to accident:-

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showth ... 454&page=2

 

Video of police at site - NSFW links on page

http://www.totallycrap.com/magazine/com ... bmw_crash/

[Traverse 0]

I saw this on my local boards when it happened. Definitely sad, but at the same time I don't feel sorry for the kid, just those that have had to suffer because of him.

[mrbeige 0]

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

I saw this on my local boards when it happened. Definitely sad, but at the same time I don't feel sorry for the kid, just those that have had to suffer because of him.

I have to agree. I also think that the Father of said AmericanM5 is mental for letting his son of 18 drive a car like that. I would imagine that he feels pretty bad now :(

[Traverse 0]

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

I saw this on my local boards when it happened. Definitely sad, but at the same time I don't feel sorry for the kid, just those that have had to suffer because of him.

I have to agree. I also think that the Father of said AmericanM5 is mental for letting his son of 18 drive a car like that. I would imagine that he feels pretty bad now :(

 

I would hope so. My dad was hesitant to let me take his 220hp Saab out when I got my license.

 

I hope that this teaches parents a lesson. I'm not one yet, and honestly I'm still only 18 years old (I feel so young!). I'm not saying that I'm an expert driver or anything, but I know not to push things. I rolled a Saab 900 three times last January, so I had to learn my lesson the hard way, although I know now. It just takes one big scare to teach you, but unfortunately his family had to learn it this way.

 

It really is creepy reading that thread.

[Bojmobile 0]

I think we need these reminders to slow down - there's a lot of bravado and talk about - "how fast have you gone" and "what have you beaten in your car" threads - which I have always steered clear of - these threads can give ideas to the "invincible" young teens with fast cars.

 

Most car forums could end up with a repeat of this incident.

[marcus 0]

Damn thats a depressing and sad read.

Poor kid. What were the parents thinking allowing him to have a 500bhp car?????????????

[.Rich. 0]

What on earth is an 18 year old doing with a machine like that. That is truly tragic, what a waste.

[Riley 0]

Read this on e36coupe.com the other day...Horrific and very sad :(

[Bojmobile 0]

About the driver on the forum:-

 

Another member expressed concern about Ammirato's maturity.

 

"t's just disturbing to know, if you're for real, that an 18 year old who is asking these questions about a 500hp car is driving the same streets I am. I don't have anything against young guys driving nice cars, but an 18 year old behind the wheel of an M5 is what accidents are made of," he wrote.

 

Ammirato responded at 5:33 p.m. Friday that he was responsible.

 

"I completely understand where you are coming from assuming that I am irresponsible ... that is definitely understandable. I do sometimes make bad decisions but I am young and I do drive safe and I will not endanger the lives of others."

 

A member from Australia again cautioned Ammirato to be careful.

 

"My only bit of advice matey -- If you crash in a big way expect to be on the news," he wrote. "Enjoy and resist the temptation to drag others at the lights."

 

Ammirato responded, in his last post, at 9:02 p.m. Friday.

 

"Thanks guys, don't get me wrong I never said I didn't respect your wisdom," he wrote. "[T]hanks for the welcome and I am looking forward to getting to know you guys better ... Josh."

[Sonicriot13 0]

When I have kids they are going to be exposed to fast, powerful cars as soon as possible. I want to teach them respect for what is most likely going to be the most dangerous piece of machinery they come into regular contact with. I also want to teach them that driving is one of the most pleasurable things you can do but it is not about outdoing other road users. The old adage "someone will always pull up beside you in a quicker one" holds true for the vast majority. And where's the fun in beating somebody who has a slower car anyway? I don't blame that guys parents. The tragedy is he just didn't know where the limits were. But I think we are all guilty of having done things on the roads at some point that could have ended very differently if we hadn't been so lucky....

[Bojmobile 0]

Here here, I think you should be able to drive fast cars but you need to be responsible and advanced driving courses would help - but no son of mine would be in a 500bhp car aged 18!! :shock:

[Jim 2]

Insane :(

 

But when you're that age no amounts of warnings, or advice from adults will ever do the job - you have to experience a big mistake or a shock for yourself before you know the limits. I used to thrash my dads old Talbot Alpine when I took it out and did some very stupid things - one or two VERY near miss accidents scared me enough to know what you should and should not do in cars.

 

It's just very tragic that this young lad (and his friends) will just become another statistic about under age kids being let loose in powerful cars. His dad was frankly idiotic to have given him the keys to a 500BHP M5. Even now with 9 years driving under my belt, and an accident free history, i'd be incredibly apprehensive about taking something like that out on the roads!

[Rado k 0]

Yeah have to agree. Does seem appealing to have a car with 500BHP but you have to remember the resposibilty that you have driving it. The video attached really brings it home when you see how far away the embankment is from where the car landed. I have had one or two fortunate near misses in my past and this just makes me even more aware of just how it can all go so easily wrong. :(

[Brother_Gideon 0]

Reminds me of the recent story about Hulk Hogan's son stuffing his Supra and doing permenant damage to one of his mates. Ironically he did a reality show called "Hogan knows best."

 

I don't know how hard I can criticise this guy. I was a bit of a tit at 18 like most of us probably were, though luckily I was restricted to a battle weary 1.4 Citreon ZX. If I had then what I have now everyone's Corrados would probably be worth slightly more.

 

Strange to say in a way I'm glad I didn't have rich parents.

[Bojmobile 0]

aye and Nick Hogan had a racing licence - so should know a fair amount of car control.

[Sonicriot13 0]

Here here, I think you should be able to drive fast cars but you need to be responsible and advanced driving courses would help - but no son of mine would be in a 500bhp car aged 18!! :shock:

 

True, that is an extreme case. And Jim makes a good point, would you trust yourself with a 500bhp car? The fact of the matter is it's probably only the people that stop and ask themselves if they can handle it that are the ones that should be allowed to drive these kinds of cars. People that are under no illusions about their level of experience/ability.

[Jim 2]

And Jim makes a good point, would you trust yourself with a 500bhp car?

 

I think, as that young lad found out, 500BHP makes it easy to get up to big speeds in short amounts of time / distance.. and because the car copes with it so well, I doubt you'd even realise you'd sailed past 100, 120MPH... no amount of airbags are going to save you if you hit a solid object at those speeds.

[Bojmobile 0]

U really need tuition do understand what to do with that amount of power - if you read the BMW drivers comments on the forum - it's clear he's unsure of what to do and had never driven a manual car - so was unsure about exactly what to do with the sequential shift.

 

Do you remember Clarkson - testing the Koeneggsegggggg's top speed on the runway - he had to have huge BRAKE signs put up as your perception of the speed you are doing is changed due to the size of the runway. This probably played a part too.

[Alexander 0]

I didn't learn to drive until I was 28 so I missed out on all the boy-racer stuff (I think). My G60 is a quick car, but I don't drive like a knob. I'm glad I didn't have it at 18 when I was trying to impress chicks.

[Guest]

Maybe if they adopted the same principles as motor cycles, engine size/power then the deaths of young people showing off and being killed would reduce too?

 

I cannot see why anyone would let an inexperienced naive driver have a 500 bhp car in the first place, Im sure even though i have been driving 18 years and have an unblemished licence and zero accidents i would still have to be very cautious with a car like that!!!

 

 

That kid in that car was like playing russian roulette with a semi automatic pistol :? inevitable!

[yorkshireone 0]

Maybe if they adopted the same principles as motor cycles, engine size/power then the deaths of young people showing off and being killed would reduce too?

 

I cannot see why anyone would let an inexperienced naive driver have a 500 bhp car in the first place, Im sure even though i have been driving 18 years and have an unblemished licence and zero accidents i would still have to be very cautious with a car like that!!!

 

 

That kid in that car was like playing russian roulette with a semi automatic pistol :? inevitable!

 

 

This is the same country in which you can buy a shotgun with ur supermarket shopping, they're not too rigorous with their safety promoting legistlation it seems.....

[Traverse 0]

My G60 is a quick car, but I don't drive like a knob. I'm glad I didn't have it at 18 when I was trying to impress chicks.

 

You should be thankful for that, because I can vouch from first hand experience that Corrado's aren't good at picking up chicks regardless :lol: Sorry, I had to lighten up this thread a bit.

 

I'm going to back up what everyone else has said about a young kid taking out a 500hp car. The most I've ever driven was a Saab 9-5 with like 220hp. That's not even half of what his BMW had, but I'm even reserved about taking that out because I know it's at least 70hp more than my rado, which is what I'm used to driving, and frankly I think that 220hp is a bit too much for a kid at my age. And in the off chances that I do take it out, I'm not driving like a moron. I'm much more reserved in that than I am when I'm driving my rado.

[vwdeviant 0]

This is the same country in which you can buy a shotgun with ur supermarket shopping, they're not too rigorous with their safety promoting legistlation it seems.....

 

Its why I want to emigrate there... no "nanny state" in some bits, if you avoid CA that is because everything that's fun is illegal there (except "pron") can't even smoke in public...

 

The whole car culture is huge in the US any-one who has spent serious time over there will tell you that.

 

This is why if you go past an "affluent" high school/college you'll see Porkers and "Modern Muscle" in the car-park... in a less affluent area you'd see 70'/80's muscle cars.. and these are probably just as dangerous, 300bhp in a car built in 71! In really poor areas pick-up held together with bailing twine and tape!

 

Traverse is kind of a prime example... 18 and with a rado, I couldn't have afforded the insurance on a rado at that age! And to be honext I see some kids out and bout (how old do I sound!) and I wonder how they afford insurance on some of the stuff they drive!

 

I guess the other question is what was he doing on an airfield at hat time in the morning as well?

 

My thoughts are with the families and friends of the five though.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

This is the same country in which you can buy a shotgun with ur supermarket shopping, they're not too rigorous with their safety promoting legistlation it seems.....

 

Only if you're a firearms license holder. If not, you have to apply for a license and wait 3 weeks (IIRC) to get it before you can buy a gun.

You can buy a gun on the black market in the UK just as easily as you can in America.

 

As for 500hp and 18 years old.

 

Two things:-

 

Firstly, a car, ANY car is only as fast as you tell it to go. Load up an M5 with 5 teenagers and the inevitable happens. He was clearly just an irresponsible person who had the means, the space to do it and just came a cropper. Unlucky. Not the fault of the car or his parents. Just a shame he took 4 of his mates with him :(

 

And secondly, What do you expect? It's the kind of car and power output his generation have grown up with, so if he can afford, he'll buy it. No one can stop him. A car dealer is not going to turn down $75,000 hard cash if his sales targets aren't being met that month.

 

When I passed my driving test in 1990, a 100hp was a lot!

These days, 500hp is average for a super saloon. A "super saloon" for me back in 1990 was either the unobtainble 204hp Sapphire cosworth, or a 130hp cavalier SRI.

 

I personally think buyers of powerful cars should be vetted, especially very young drivers. Ford used to give free tuition to buyers of the Sierra Cosworth because so many people were power sliding into walls and hedges. And some supercar manufacturers won't sell you a car, regardless of your wealth, unless you meet their strict criteria. It's all wise and stops irresponsible idiots with money trashing their cars into a bus shelter or something.

 

There is always a way to circumvent these things though. Buy one that's a year old for example. "Uncle Bob's prestige car company" isn't going to give a flying fish how old you are, he just wants to shift the cars.

 

And why do people always take the moral high ground when they read about a prang? You all bought high performance cars for a reason.

 

Just because one incident is sensationalised, doesn't mean everyone is crashing left, right and centre.

[Slimg60 0]

That's a hell of a crash, just luck he was on a private airstrip and not public roads or the outcome could have been so much worst.