Son wrecks car. He's ok but car isn't.

[A930Rocket]

I guess it was going to happen at some point.

He's 20 and never gotten a ticket or wreck of any kind. Been driving 5 years.

He's home for spring break and dropped my wife off early this morning for work. As he was driving home on I-526, some lady slammed on her brakes and there was a 5 car pile up. He was number 5. The lady who caused it drove off.

Car looks pretty bad. I'm guessing it's totaled.

The main point is he's ok and so are the other drivers.

[aigel]

Went under a pickemup?

Texting?

Sure glad he is okay! This will be a great lesson. (I had one at 19 that was similar).

G

[Hugh R]

Wow, glad he is OK, and that car was a ???

[MBAtarga]

Glad he was okay as well. Sure looks totaled to me.

[aschen]

definitely totaled glad to hear your son is OK, the car is replaceable.

I am of the opinion that if you rear end somebody you have a certain amount of fault no matter what, but that doesn't mean you are responsible for all of the collisions.

[GH85Carrera]

Glad he was OK. The car did what it was designed to do, save him. It is easy to replace a car.

If he was the last car in a 5 car pileup he was at fault, following too closely and and or not paying attention to the road.

We all make dumb mistakes at his age. He is OK and that is the only important thing. The rest is just a disposable car.

[McLovin]

Glad he's ok. That looks like a hard hit.

For driving, I told my son one simple thing to avoid accidents:

"As simple as this seems, just don't ram the car in front of you, you'll reduce your chance of getting into an accident by 90%."

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by aschen

but that doesn't mean you are responsible for all of the collisions.

hmmm, maybe, maybe not.

If cars 1-4 managed to stop without touching and car 5 hit's car 4 hard enough so all of them make contact then yes, at fault for all.


Glad the boy is OK.

[JavaBrewer]

Wow great news that your son is OK!!

From the looks of the car it certainly did it's job protecting him. IMO newer cars are designed to suffer damage like that for occupant safety. Can you imagine your circumstances had he been driving an old VW or something? My son is 19 (tomorrow) and his lone accident was also hitting the car in front of him on I-5. Not great for insurance but again it's only money.

[aigel]

That was a VW Tiguan ...

[Seahawk]

The first time I wrecked, my father was more concerned about me than the car.

The second time it was a tie.

No third time, thank God.

Hug you boy not the car...but you know that.

[E Sully]

My friends father was involved in a similar incident. One ticket for following too closely. He also broke his nose on the steering wheel, so he got a ticket for improper seat belt use. Policeman decided if he was using it properly he would not have hit his nose on the steering wheel.

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

hmmm, maybe, maybe not.

If cars 1-4 managed to stop without touching and car 5 hit's car 4 hard enough so all of them make contact then yes, at fault for all.


Glad the boy is OK.

The first 4 cars had already hit each other when he hit #4.

I picked him up at the accident. First thing I did was hug him and tell him it was ok. It's just a car.

[Baz]

Glad your son and all others involved were not hurt. That's the important thing.

Rule of thumb is to allow one car length for every 10 mph in speed. Not always easy to follow that guideline but when you do it will usually keep you out of trouble.

I also feel there are many terrible drivers who should be given citations for crappy driving (including poor traffic flow management/stopping too suddenly) but cops don't care about that stuff like they do speed limits and crashes.

[rusnak]

Glad everyone's OK.

At least he didn't do a Caitlyn Jenner.

[MikeD930]

Wow Jim...I'm glad to hear that your son and others are okay! It's easy to misjudge unexpected stopped traffic on a highway especially when it's dark.

[Tobra]

Why would a car wreck induce him to start taking hormones, get a boob and a penisectomy?

I kid.


Glad the boy is okay, look forward to hearing about all the back and neck problems all the people in front of him will turn up with.

[john70t]

No need to say more on the internet.

We've all been there.
A complex day, moments of distraction, and then suddenly a panic situation arises where it should not exist.
Five years of clean youthful-male driving should hopefully mean something to insurance etc.

Glad he is ok.
.

[jyl]

Glad he is okay. That's all that matters. Cars are disposable. He has learned a driving lesson. We all had lessons to learn at his age. I doubt many of us old dudes actually have zero accidents on our record.

[john70t]

Looks like the bumper he ran into was high off the ground.

That car might even be repairable for personal use:
Unibody chassis.
Side panels are still straight.
You are in a low-rust area.
Hood, engine, radiator, frame components pulled into spec, and straightening/tweeking.
Paint. Assemble.

Disclose if sell.