Don't Drink And Drive

[Chili Palmer]

My wife had a few too many the other night and shouldn't have been driving. Unfortunately she drove over an embankment onto the freeway and luckily not hitting or injuring anyone else, ending upside down on the freeway shoulder. She got away with only being sore from the fall and airbags, but she had no way of getting out of the DUI charge. The paramedics said she was lucky the BMW was such a stout car and not a Camry otherwise she might not have made it. And yes, I am still overly pissed at her - there was no reason for this.

The car is a total but I've got some items that didn't make it on the car yet that I'm going to post in the classified section like:

Complete set of 20" 373 wheels with new tires that came off the car back in July, they have maybe 500 miles before I put the 343 wheels on.
M6 mufflers
4" tips for M6 Mufflers
BMW Performance M6 Carbon Fiber Trunk Spoiler
Front carbon fiber splitter
Carbon fiber rear diffuser.
Spare tire and jack kit

[sixfiftyay]

shame about the car but glad to hear she's ok. cars can always be replaced but loved ones cannot. good luck!

[F06msportmia]

Great everyone is ok! That's some serious damage. Aside from the low roof line our cars are SOLID...

[Cincinnatus]

Yowza! Good to hear nobody was hurt. I hope the missus got the message. Did the police say how fast she was going?

[DerBosewicht]

Man so grateful that no one was hurt.. especially her. I can only imagine your frustration but at the end of the day, it’s just a material thing.

[Havy]

Wow, luckily she is ok. The 6series is a tank thank you BMW.

[mgattmch]

Good to know everyone is OK and German engineering facilitated this. You have done a great service to the community with your post/warning. Thanks.

[markymarc1979]

Dammmm. Thanks for sharing. This is definitely a wake up that alcohol and BMW's don't mix.

Glad everyone is uninjured.

[Rob1910]

Wow! Really lucky never hit some unsuspecting innocent!? Yeah all great the 6 is a well built German tank...but what if she HAD hit a Camry??
Gutted for you as it was a great car, but can't condone the selfishness of drink driving. DUI? Divorced Under Idiocy?

[Qsilver7]

Ditto all of the sentiments already given...a few below are some of the first thoughts that came to my mind:

• glad your wife is okay
• glad no one else was hurt/injured
• thanks for posting pics that show how your 6 handled this type of accident

And again...a big thanks for sharing this unfortunate event...its a wake-up call for us all. Some of us may not drink but may be on medication...and some of us may be sober...but take unnecessary or dangerous risks while driving in daily traffic...(we know who we are).

[FBMWWINS]

Thanks for sharing this sad story and glad as well that damage was limited to just a car wreck and a big scare probably for your wife. It's a big life lesson for her and for us all as well when we see or hear 1st hand what turn things can take....

[Flying Ace]

Good to hear she probably learned a lesson from this.

I'm interested in the BMW spoiler. I'm also interested to see a picture of the diffuser as there are 2 versions. Please let me know your price shipped to 94066

[Chili Palmer]

Thank you all for the glad wishes for my wife, but this should not have happened - there are far too many options available to not drive while impaired, Uber, Lyft, or even calling me to say that she's had too much to drive. Yes, I'd be pissed that she let herself get to that point, but at least she'd have the wherewithal to know that she was not capable of driving safely, she wouldn't have gotten a DUI, and we wouldn't be out of a car (a really nice car). This I hope is her moment of clarity.

Please, all of you in Bimmerland heed this as a warning - do not drive after you've been drinking or toking up. It's better to pay for towing and impound services than paying for the DUI, driving suspension, driving restriction, lawyer costs, court costs, required drunk school costs, community service time, and inflated insurance costs (for up to 10 years), or even jail time. Not to mention if you injure or kill someone or injure, maim, or paralyze yourself. It's just not worth it.

If you need to, be the designated driver - you can get by without getting buzzed this time because there will always be a next time.

Thanks for listening - I'm off my soapbox now.

[bravo261]

that is crazy, both in the decision to drive and also the sheer fortune that she's superficially injured with no one else effected on a SoCal freeway from a flying car.

as you said, life is too easy with Uber and Lyft these days...or a solid husband on the other end of a cell phone.

my dad is dying of cancer, so life is more precious to me today than it was yesterday. I'm glad she's ok, and that's not some random platitude

[Chili Palmer]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

Good to hear she probably learned a lesson from this.

I'm interested in the BMW spoiler. I'm also interested to see a picture of the diffuser as there are 2 versions. Please let me know your price shipped to 94066

PM Sent

[markymarc1979]

In the case of a DUI, is your insurance company off the hook for the replacement costs of your vehicle?

[6coupe]

Originally Posted by markymarc1979

In the case of a DUI, is your insurance company off the hook for the replacement costs of your vehicle?

That's what I'd have thought, invalidated and null...?

[markymarc1979]

Originally Posted by 6coupe

That's what I'd have thought, invalidated and null...?

That would really suck for the OP. They would be out the entire value of the car.

[Chili Palmer]

Originally Posted by markymarc1979

In the case of a DUI, is your insurance company off the hook for the replacement costs of your vehicle?

No, we've been paid off on the equity of the car, the rest to BMW Financial Services. Actually we made money on the car, even after you add the M5 wheels and tires. We got a killer deal when we bought it. We've also got money coming back from the extended warranty and service contract, but we're still out of a car. Who knows if insurance will even insure my wife when our policy renews in August. More than likely - at an exponential rate $$$$.

[MARKPRIOR]

Sad day on all counts, good to hear there were no lasting consequences.

Bitter pill to swallow for both of you, but put it behind you and look forward.

[Walt White Coupe]

Originally Posted by markymarc1979

In the case of a DUI, is your insurance company off the hook for the replacement costs of your vehicle?

I find it amazing that people pay thousands of dollars for car insurance and don't ever read or understand what they are paying for. An accident is an accident whether you are drunk or not.

[6coupe]

Originally Posted by Walt White Coupe

I find it amazing that people pay thousands of dollars for car insurance and don't ever read or understand what they are paying for. An accident is an accident whether you are drunk or not.

That isn't necessarily true of all insurance.

Many people are under the false impression that if they have an accident while over the legal drink drive limit their car insurance policy will become completely invalid and void. This is untrue.
All insurance companies are obligated to cover the costs incurred to any third parties that the insured is liable for under the The Road Traffic Act 1988, regardless of whether the insured was over the legal limit.
An insurance policy may have a drink and drugs clause whereby in the event of any claim the insured was convicted of an offence relating to drink or drugs their fully comprehensive status will be invalid (not the entire policy). This means they cant claim for any loss or damage incurred to themselves. However, a third party can still claim off a drink drivers insurance policy for any loss or damage incurred to them. The clause usually also states that the insurance company reserve the right to recover the cost of the settlement of any such claim off the insured. However in practice this right is rarely exercised as it is simply not cost effective.