The MINI in front (in his lane) is me. I met the guy behind me on one of the runs but don't really know him. It was his first dragon in a newly purchased MINI but said he owned many sports cars. I saw this picture earlier this week while looking for my MINI. I couldn't believe it! :frown2: I never saw him crossing the lines in the rear view, but then again you don't get a lot of chances to look at it! I guess he was trying to keep up but I don't let that get to me. If someone is a more experienced driver then that's great and I will fall back. Not going to endanger myself to try and stay with someone. Last year was my first dragon and I went to the Newbie Orientation. That was a great class that really stressed safety and staying in your lane and the dangers that could happen if not. We also took a slow drive of the Dragon and talked about our experience with it. Those teachings stayed with me for this year too. I know there is no way to enforce it but most of these problems are probably new people like the one in the picture who never went to the class because they don't think they needed it. (making assumptions, I could be wrong ) It would be good for everyone to have!
@ Kevin: You were behind me twice on Saturday. . .I hope I didn't embarrass myself on video. :smilewinkgrin:
After a horrible 1 car crash the killed 3 HS students it was strongly suggested that the wadded up car be parked in the center of the main drag for all their classmates to ponder. The idea was shot down by a couple of whingers. It could still be an effective reminder if employed in the right venue.
I am all for the wall of shame and public humiliation that could be updated daily in a prominent area. I see no reason to blur out the license plates for privacy reasons they are on a PUBLIC ROAD. If your picture ends up on the Wall of shame your next trip might be to the Tree of shame. Side note: Veterans do not drive on Saturday, that is a day for all the idiots. plus we are hung over from Friday night. :beer
Two years ago my daughter got this shot when she and I rode the Dragon Sunday morning before we left. This vehicle, not a MINI, was not only over the double yellow but sometimes over the white line on the wrong side!!! Scared me to death and they did this at least 50% of the time after we caught up to them. I just don't understand how anyone can be so unaware of the danger to others. You want to kill yourself, well go drive off the mountain but for the love of MINIS don't do things that could hurt others. Do no harm.
+1 ^ While I agree some sort of newb orientation is in order I can't see how it can be made mandatory. It's a public road that they have every right to drive on. Also if we have a school are we not taking on a risk if a graduate of our school does something foolish & causes harm to themselves or another road user? In our society folks sue for everything & anything. I don't know if MOTD carries any insurance, if not it might be time to raise the admission fee & buy some. Sad, but true. There are pictures of MINIs all the way in the other lane, crazy.ut: Not sure anyone that stupid can be helped for they are unencumbered by the thought process. :nonod: There are pictures of some MINIs with a wheel a bit over. IMO those folks maybe could benefit from some friendly advise. There are different levels of violations & they should be treated differently. :idea: Maybe we can get MINI FINI to weld us up a pillory for the worst offenders. :devil:
I never saw you get out of your lines Dawn! I haven't had time to go through it yet but you should have video of some good driving! I just hope I stayed in mine as well as I think I did! I will however post a video clip of that motorcycle parked, yes PARKED to chat in the wrong lane of a blind curve we had to dangerously swerve around!
I saw a few bad drivers myself (both mini's and everything else on the road). this being my first MOTD, first time at the dragon also. I had the don't cross the yellow line stuck in my head. I felt I had been doing very well at staying off the yellow until I saw some of my pics on killboy... while I never crossed the line I had one tire on it... I'm somewhat ashamed of myself but definitely learned and will be doing better next year. When it comes to awareness the newbie orientation definitely helps get things in your head. But it comes down to the driver to drive to their ability/ cars ability. I was guilty of it and pushed a little harder than I should have but I learned and backed off. I think most chalk it up as a close call :nonod:
Yay!! I can't wait to see it! Riding behind you on the way there and back I can assure you that exhibited nothing but skillful driving. And I meant to remind you to get that stick out from under your car once you got home. I noticed it in the Killboy pics (did you see the great shot of the CRs from the back all in a shiny row?).
I forgot about that stupid limb I have been dragging all week! I just went and pulled it out since the exhaust is cold now (it never was any other time I thought about it!). That's my little souvenir of Fontana. I should mount it above my panoramic! I'll go back and look for it in my Killboy pics! :nonod: I did see the CRs shot. That was a fun inaugural run. Next year we will get more CRs to join in! :cornut:
I saw alot of MINI Owners...Veterans and New People speeding at the Dragon and at Fontana Village...so add those people to the list. If you ever committed a sin in your MINI...How can you cast a stone at someone, who committed a sin in his MINI?... The proper way is to educate people...maybe the first night by giving a safety brief showing improper driving and the effects.
So you are saying those of us with an exhaust that is loud by YOUR ears, that we have shamed the event and the Motoring community? I am not trying to argue, just not understanding your point.
Most exhausts sounded really good and were tastefully done...but there were some that were just deafening to the ears...my opinion and ears. I'm trying to say that if you've never broken the law...then you can shame people as much as you want or humiliate them... But how are you going to shame people if you've (generalization) broken the law...extremely loud exhausts above allowed state regs...speeding above the posted speed limits...etc...etc... If you see someone that did something wrong during a drive...go talk to the person to the side...by explaining about the double yellow lines and the effects...or...do a safety brief prior to every drive. You need to educate people...not humiliate them.
I am in the loud exhaust club, I know it and I admit it. Is it illegally loud? I have no idea but I've never been pulled over for it. Never been tossed off a track with noise restrictions either. I also know how to modulate the volume and do so according to the time and place. You won't find me whipping through the village at full song at 3 AM at high RPM levels. Did my exhaust offend someone, probably, am I going to quiet it down to appease others...No. We are headed down a slippery slope here if we try to make every exhaust quiet enough for all people. Whats next..the number of lights on the front? Paint colors that are too bright for some eyes? The issue at hand is driving skills, paying attention on the roads and not being hoonish to extent we were this year. All this talk right after the event helps to bring awareness to the issue, but where will be in 6 months when all these posts roll deep into the site. We need to work on an eduction solution for 2012 and be prepared to start rolling it out come January when registration starts again. Lets look for solutions instead of pointing fingers and making accusations.
Like I said before everyone knows not to cross the yellow line it's the law on every rode. The consequences are just magnified on the Dragon big time!!! Everone knows they need to be safe some of us just do a better job of it then others.. For that matter I like Killboy being out there taking pics as I've bought some over the years and really the only reason I made a run up Sat as I have new wheels and wanted some pics with them on there, BUT I noticed in one spot on my way out from Deals Gap there were 4-5 cars parked on the right hand side of the road ( they are usually on the left going in my direction ) they had a pop up shelter with a whole group of people and what looked like younger kids there as well taking pictures. My first thought when I saw the cars on the right was there must be a wreck.. Then saw the shelter thingy and knew what was going on then, but that can be a major distraction for someone who doesn't know they are out there..
