Most liked posts in thread: Dragon Safety

Excellent suggestion.

IIRC, there are also pullouts in some of the turns on the Dragon to enable this. The few cars (and one trolling flatbed tow truck) I encountered used them--a pleasant surprise, as it's not standard practice in the U.S. (It is standard practice to pull over to the right to let someone pass in Canada.)

 

Thank you! That really helps a lot

 

Thanks, these suggestions help me a lot. I do want to learn more of the technical aspects of driving.

I've started autocrossing this year and the one thing I'm focusing on right now is looking ahead. I think it helps with staying in control in a turn. It's the one thing all of the instructors said when I was in the autocross school, that you had to look ahead because it's too late to figure out what you should be doing right now. Of course in autocross you're driving to your limit because it's a safe environment. It sounds like looking ahead works nicely into how you would approach a turn regarding the apex.

My plan is the same as the last two years, take the Dragon at a pace that I'm comfortable with. I pull over for faster drivers and don't tailgate. Last year when we got behind a REALLY slow Caddie, we would pull over to let him gain some speed, then drive along a bit, catch up to him and repeat. It worked out just fine.

Can't wait to get there!!!!

 

Okay gang, just found out a good friend of mine rolled his SRT4 Neon at the Dragon this weekend. Says the guy behind him counted two rolls. He's sore but okay. Lucky too. Neon on the other hand is done. Had to get a ride back with a friend, and has to go to somebody elses house to get his stuff. Car is still out there somewhere while insurance decides what to do, but he says it's an obvious total loss.

This is a guy with a well set up car and I personally know of 3+ years of track time. I've tracked the car and it works (worked?) well. So the Dragon is a dangerous place. I'd really rather not hear of anyone else being in the same position my buddy Scott is in. I'll get more info as soon as I can. In the meantime, lets keep thinking safety!

 

+ 1

 

+2 (mostly)
The cool thing about that is that the Dragon is actually a lot of fun to drive as a "rhythm" road instead of "slaying" it...

General rule to any athletic event: If you can't do it properly SLOWLY, speed will NOT improve the result. Being able to precisely drive "the line" at a slow speed is a necessary precursor to driving it at a faster speed.

 

Ah safety on the Dragon. Everyone has brought up very excellent points. Definatly stay within the lines. Drive within your limits. Look ahead.
Except this don't push thing I don't understand. The pull offs are quite large and paved now too, so it is usually pretty safe to slow down and just let the faster car by so pushing won't be an issue. Why get all worked up about a car behind you when all you would have to do is pull over and you can continue to enjoy the road at your own pace with out the pressure.
I am usually one of the cars that will push, if I have to. I have no problem admitting it. Basically I'll come up behind a slower vehicle and give them good distance however after we pass by three pull offs, it is on.
So just please just move right for the faster cars. All of the locals do it which is very nice. But some of the visiting MINI's never seem to have been told what the pull offs are there for.

 

Tis a pain when a bird watcher wants to poke along whilst a string of Minis with their lights on are being held up....:banghead:

In the immortal words of #3: "Lead, follow or get the flock out of the way...."

 

What the southerner said :cornut:

 

Why thank ya mam!

 

The turn outs are a lot more obvious now there are signs painted on the road with arrows.

I was stuck behind a mustang today that would not get the hint even when some bikes passed him and pointed to pull offs. The key is going to patience. If the car or bike won't pull off you should and create some space.

I saw a good bit of LEO activity on the dragon today too.

 

LEO? :confused5:

 

Law Enforcement Officer. Police. Tennessee has been increasing LE activity in the area for years, because of people driving stupidly on one of the most dangerous roads in North America.

 

Yes they will be increasing money in the state treasury for sure. Revenuer's... :mad2:

Be careful on the Chocoholic Skyway too. It is a federal ticket that will cost you a lot of your donut money. :donut1: Save your money for dounts & mods.

 

Same goes for Foothills Parkway. Federal ticket = big bucks.