BMW Driver Showing Off On Social Media Kills Pregnant Mother

He got what many consider a light sentence.

A 22-year-old man named Adil Iqbal filmed himself speeding in his BMW on a UK highway just before hitting and killing a pregnant mother. Sadly, 38-year-old Frankie Hough was parked on the shoulder with her two sons and nephew when the reckless driver slammed into her car. She was calling for help with a flat tire.

Watch a speeding BMW M3 almost take out a police officer.

Not only was Hough, a soap opera actress in the UK, killed after the collision, her 9-year-old son was left in a coma. According to a New York Post report, her 2-year-old was crying out for her after the wreck.

“Our worlds have been torn apart, and for what?” the actress’ dad, Frank Hough, said to the Manchester paper during an interview. “All because a young man wanted to show off, wanted to show his friends on social media how daring and cool he thought he was.”

One of the many problems borne out of social media is the fact some people will do any number of absolutely stupid things to get attention. This is certainly true for the car hobby, and we suspect quite a few automotive influencers wouldn’t claim to be gearheads if it weren’t for pulling stunts on social getting them all kinds of reactions.

We’ve grown to resent this group since they give the hobby we love a bad name. To be speeding on a busy highway, holding your phone in one hand so you can stream the whole thing, all just to build your social media credibility is just plain disgusting to us. Did it never once occur to Iqbal that families were on the road with him, or did he just not care?

This same craving for social media followers and likes has helped make street takeovers or “sideshows” increasingly popular. Kids and adults who behave like kids post videos of the cars doing illegal stunts on their social media accounts, all in a quest to get the euphoric rush of people praising them for standing mere inches away from a 4,000 lb. car doing a burnout.

In this case, Iqbal was sentenced by a judge to 12 years in prison after he plead guilty to death by dangerous driving. He’s also disqualified from driving on public roads for 13 years after that. We and plenty of other people think he got off easy.