willowbilly3 wrote:
One more reason to drive old cars

Maybe, but most likely had he been in a old car, he may not have survived an accident like that. After all they had no air bags nor crumple zones. In fact, an old car might just be one large crumple zone.

In any case, real glad to hear that your nephew was able to walk away. As to the engine cut off question, I would think that should have happened, but depending on the nature of the damage, it's possible that the function was blocked electronically.