Killboy always posts photos of drivers and riders crossing the line and driving reckless. He constantly tries to educate people. He's the biggest advocate for safe driving I know. Though, I don't think he's never been ran off the road before. Lori, his wife owns a MINI. He's not the one coming down hard on this person. It's the MINI community coming down right now, as it should be. We should police our own. Darryl is a wonderful friend, great guy and incredible driver. http://killboy.blogspot.com
Signs, banners, handouts, and messeges on here and the other MINI sites is about all you can do. Sure you can have a drivers meeting but who will show up.. It's a public road, and you don't have to register to join in on the event.. No way to make sure EVERYONE attends a meeting/class and you can't force anyone to.. In the grand scheme of things 2% is probably a good number, sure it'd be great to get that to 0 but that's unrealistic... Can you imagine how many of us broke the speed limit at some point, or crossed a line or 2 somewhere along a road while there, just no one got a pic of it.. Get the word out is really all you can do.. Let Killboy and the others post pics as they get them and they do... We don't need every tom dick and harry out there trying to catch someone crossing the line... I'd be more concerned with Fontana Village and keeping them happy with what anyone is doing on their property.. Without them where are we at..
REALLY MUFFLERS.....Maybe you have MOTD confused with stock minis on the dragon. I have an RMW header with a custom 2 1/2 straight back custom exhaust. Its called a performance exhaust for a reason. :devil: Yeah they are loud and if you cant deal with all of them.........I have idea..... stay home. :incazzato:
+1 You can only help educate those that want to be educated. Everyone can use it, but some perceive they are above such things. Not sure how exactly to do it, but if we can't rein in the renegades I fear the worst could happen.
Mark, this is one of the reason's I have not made a big effort to attend a dragon event with any car club. My point of view is what is the point of a twisty road you can only drive "kinda Hard", have to stay within the speed limit and can't squeal tires? So for me the hillclimb coming up would be the event I want to attend at the dragon (in fact I'm trying to justify the gas tow bill all the way to NC and back for one run at 2.2 miles of road).
I was just asking. Looks like we are on track and dealing with the problem. I realize that MOTD may not be for everyone. For me "it works" and I had a fantastic time. Drank too much (on the porch at night, not while driving), talked too much, smoked too many cigars, spent too much money, ate too much and it was all good. I had no idea any of these things happened until I got home. Jim
While this was my first trip to the Dragon, I found most everyone well behaved, respectful and good drivers. I am sure there were those that didn't, but for the MOST part it was great fun and sane. For those that wish to push their MINIs to the limit, try a track day. We welcome all of you to come out to MINI Thunder III next year. I think that you will find it challenging, exhausting, and a learning experience. For those that can't make the trip to Thunderhill in California, there are plenty of track days on the east coast. Its much safer way to learn what you and your MINI can do.
It says "near" the tail of the dragon, water fall at starting line, and scenic overlook at end.. Is this the same scenic overlook close to the end of the dragon and then 2.2 miles back one way or the other for the start???
Glad to see this discussion. I was shocked when I saw Killboy's photos and posts, and embarrassed for all of us. So glad he's OK. I think most everyone knows where I stand on this issue. When I put together the "Fail of the Dragon" video two years ago I took a lot of heat more the method but in the end it did make a difference. Last year was much better and now we've slipped back to the same problems. We had two rookie orientation sessions again this year and I thought they were well-attended. The first one was about 50 people and the second about 30. That's about 10% of the attendance and without knowing how many who were registered were new people, I thought it was pretty good. Many people told me how much they appreciated those sessions and how it helped them. I don't think most of the people we're seeing in those photos are rookies, and that's the alarming part of this. If we track those folks down I think we'll find many have been to MOTD before and they were crossing the line intentionally, because it's easier or because they want to go faster or blah, blah, blah. And that just makes me sick to my stomach. A fellow SSM member told me he followed to veterans on the Hellbender and watched as they drove down the middle of the curves. They stopped at Deals Gap and he approached them about it but was told to ***** off and mind his own business. You know I support doing whatever I can to educate and help people drive safely out there in a spirited way. But we're talking about free will here folks. You can't hold an event at a public resort on public roads and require people to attend a class. They can come and go as they please and still drive on the same roads as us even causing just as much damage, even if we don't let them register. They have to believe what we're saying is true and buy-in to the safety rules. Frankly, we all know there always will be people who choose to not do that. As far as casting stones, I speed as do many of you. I go out early when there are less vehicles and do my personal runs. I DO NOT cross the line. And actually, where is the challenge in driving those roads if you straighten the curves? That's the joy of it, to me. On group runs I run at the pace of the group and I'm mindful to not push someone beyond their skills by running up their tailpipe. That's one thing I see too much of, and we all need to be aware of the pressure that puts on people. Many good suggestions here that will continue to increase awareness, but bad souls are gonna continue to be bad and eventually Karma will catch up with them. Defensive driving should be a main focus, and that is discussed at length in the rookie sessions.
Ian: I agree with all of your reasoning. You just need to link the hillclimb with a track event. Surely there is something at VIR, Barber, Road Atlanta etc where you can play.
If you see someone not staying in the lane...use the radio and tell that person to stay in the lane...
I'm thinking this has run it's course... Lets start working on how we can educate and get the word out to all. Look for a new thread on that soon please. Thanks