Z3 Accident

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Big Daddy

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This is a photograph of our 97 Z3 2.8 after our daughter's tragic accident. Our daughter suffered severe injuries and now, three years later is showing wonderful improvement. This is a hard topic to post, but I wanted others to see, 1) the structural integrity of the cockpit, and 2) the dangers of a car out of control. I will attach another photo of the front of the car.

 
Talk2USoon

Talk2USoon

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Big Daddy said:
This is a photograph of our 97 Z3 2.8 after our daughter's tragic accident. Our daughter suffered severe injuries and now, three years later is showing wonderful improvement. This is a hard topic to post, but I wanted others to see, 1) the structural integrity of the cockpit, and 2) the dangers of a car out of control. I will attach another photo of the front of the car.

<<<<<<<<<<

OMG! Those photos gave me chills!! I'm glad to hear your daughter survived and
continues to improve. {{{{{hugs}}}}}
Pat
Click to expand...
 
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Big Daddy

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Thanks all, after three years it gives me chills to look at the photos as well. I had been avoiding it, but feel it is time to put it behind us as she has greatly improved.
 
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Big Daddy

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She was wearing her seat belt, but this model did not have side impact airbags and the front airbags never deployed, as you can see by the steering wheel. My 98 M has both front and side impact airbags.
 
jrt67ss350

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If you don't mind me asking, what happened? Did someone rear end her really hard? I'm surprised that the air bags didn't deploy by the looks of the front of the car. I am amazed at how much damage was done to the rear of the car, and it didn't really intrude into the cockpit, especially since there really isn't that much sheetmetal behind the cockpit in these cars. Amazing design.

I'm also glad to hear that your daughter is doing much better now.
 
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Big Daddy

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She was traveling down a hill, on a four lane road, at an estimated speed of 55 mph, the car spun on her (due to a head injury she cannot remember why), however an engineer determined that the throttle cable malfunctioned with the throttle partly engaged. (there was a re-call on this that we found out about after the fact). Either she panicked when this occurred or the passenger (who refused to answer any questions by police and later fled the hospital) jerked the emergency brake causing the spin. The car then collided, backwards, with a car traveling in the opposite direction, having a combined impact speed of at least 90 mph. The car then reversed direction (now traveling forward) and struck the guard rail head on.
 
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Big Daddy

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Yes I believe had the airbags deployed it would have helped. It appears that the sensors were too low and the car went under the guard rail. Thanks for everyones concern, being this accident is three years old it is easier to take.
 
Kirby

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Wow - those pix tell a bad story that has a fairly good ending. They send chills down my spine. My daughter just passed her test 2 weeks ago. Some peace of mind is that she's driving a Volvo 740 with the Volvo "crumple zones". Looks like BMW uses a similiar design philosophy. The cockpit appears amazingly intact compared to the rest of the damage.
 
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