MINI bullies
#1
MINI bullies
since acquiring "Basil" in May I have noticed a lot of other drivers who like to tailgate my MINI, I'm not a timid driver nor am I careless. I am not holding anyone up either. My previous car was an 89' Pontiac Grand Am and I never had the same frequency of tailgating drivers like I do with "Basil" it's like a tailgator magnet sometimes. The other day I parked in an empty parking lot outside a store and when I came out a guy in a Hummer had parked so close to my drivers door I could barely get in. Whats up with that stuff is it just MINI envy or what....any one else have similar experiences?
#2
Yes, I've had similar experiences. I'm not so sure it's intentional on "their" part though. I like to give folks the benefit of the doubt but it sure does feel as if they get purposefully close to LilTiger's rear end.
However - I did come from 14 years of driving SUVs. Someone in LilTiger's rear view mirror is naturally closer to me than they would be if I was in my SUV....by about, oh, I dunno, 10 feet or so.
I feel somewhat intimidated when I can read the VIN in the engine bay of the truck behind me though.
As for those stray parking lot muts...ya got me. I will walk 1/2 mile from THE furthest parking spot in the lot if I feel that it protects LilTiger better. But it never fails...the whole lot can be empty, and I come out of a store to find someone has parked next to her. And it runs to both extremes of the spectrum...I've come out to find a really really nice vehicle beside her...to coming out and finding something that should be mercifully sent to the car graveyard in the sky. There's no rhyme or reason to it.
However - I did come from 14 years of driving SUVs. Someone in LilTiger's rear view mirror is naturally closer to me than they would be if I was in my SUV....by about, oh, I dunno, 10 feet or so.
I feel somewhat intimidated when I can read the VIN in the engine bay of the truck behind me though.
As for those stray parking lot muts...ya got me. I will walk 1/2 mile from THE furthest parking spot in the lot if I feel that it protects LilTiger better. But it never fails...the whole lot can be empty, and I come out of a store to find someone has parked next to her. And it runs to both extremes of the spectrum...I've come out to find a really really nice vehicle beside her...to coming out and finding something that should be mercifully sent to the car graveyard in the sky. There's no rhyme or reason to it.
#3
I'm glad someone else has experienced people tailgating them while driving their MINI. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt also, but damn, if they're in that big of a hurry go around. Ever notice how many of them are talking on their cell phones while they're pushing you down the road.
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#9
I'm not looking forward to this issue. I know it's going to be an issue. Since my DH's GT500 arrival 7 months ago I'm getting **** about this tail smelling as I call it. In the GT500 I could just down shift and kick up some loose pavement (Oops, did I just give myself away). With the Mini being front wheel drive it just won't have the same effect.
I was bumped in the Chick-A-Fillet drive thru by some lady who admitted she was trying to read my sticker on the back window of the camper shell of my F150. She damaged the mess out of her front bumper since she only bumped my hitch. Expensive afternoon read there. I did feel a little bad because the sticker she was trying to read was...My Daddy Loves My Teacher - Support Home Schooling. Ouch!
Now I've already ordered the Actual Size sticker for the back window of the Mini and I want the Mini's name of Shelby Jr. on there also. I guess I need a big ol hitch to boot.
Maybe I need a sticker that reads something about flicking
nostril chunks at folks following to close. I know, that's bad and un-lady like.
I was bumped in the Chick-A-Fillet drive thru by some lady who admitted she was trying to read my sticker on the back window of the camper shell of my F150. She damaged the mess out of her front bumper since she only bumped my hitch. Expensive afternoon read there. I did feel a little bad because the sticker she was trying to read was...My Daddy Loves My Teacher - Support Home Schooling. Ouch!
Now I've already ordered the Actual Size sticker for the back window of the Mini and I want the Mini's name of Shelby Jr. on there also. I guess I need a big ol hitch to boot.
Maybe I need a sticker that reads something about flicking
nostril chunks at folks following to close. I know, that's bad and un-lady like.
#10
Yeah, tailgaiting is a HUGE problem here in Hampton Roads... and I agree a Mini will attract them more than the average vehicle.
My solution? 2 methods. One, I will slow down so much that they are left with no choice but to pass me exasperated out of their minds, or Two, if it isn't out of my way to do so, I'll wait till they try and exit, and then I'll suck them into taking the off-ramp WAY faster than their car can handle. It's always fun to see the cell phone get dropped out of their hands while they make efforts to recover.
Good times my friends... good times.
My solution? 2 methods. One, I will slow down so much that they are left with no choice but to pass me exasperated out of their minds, or Two, if it isn't out of my way to do so, I'll wait till they try and exit, and then I'll suck them into taking the off-ramp WAY faster than their car can handle. It's always fun to see the cell phone get dropped out of their hands while they make efforts to recover.
Good times my friends... good times.
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Please don't do this..........if they bother you just move over and let them go on by, or speed up and leave them in your dust, but don't become a rolling chicane - you'll only make things worse. How does this make the rest of us MINI owners look when you do this? Besides being extremely anti-social behavior, it's against the law..........Try to take the high road, OK?
#15
It does seem that I'm tailgated more in the MINI but I think it's just because the back window is so close to the rear of the car and there's very little bumper protruding beyond that, it's an optical illusion. If you had about three feet of trunk, or even another few feet of car between you and the end of the vehicle, you'd feel better.
#17
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Just yesterday I experienced this. I was traveling about 5 MPH over the speed limit yet (residential area) and had this guy in an infinity sedan tailgating me for about a mile. I turned and he turns still smelling my you know what.... he passes me and looks the other way ignoring any type of eye contact.
Good grief...
Good grief...
#18
It's the same mentality that makes people act like motorcycles have no right to be on the road. Amazingly enough, after I installed the 3rd brake light pulser on my car, the incidents of tailgating have abated. If someone is too close, I lightly tap the brake, without slowing the car. Magically, they always pull back. I don't know if they think I am a cop or I'm shooting a laser at them, but, who cares? It works!
#19
It's the same mentality that makes people act like motorcycles have no right to be on the road. Amazingly enough, after I installed the 3rd brake light pulser on my car, the incidents of tailgating have abated. If someone is too close, I lightly tap the brake, without slowing the car. Magically, they always pull back. I don't know if they think I am a cop or I'm shooting a laser at them, but, who cares? It works!
I never thought of that, cool idea LynnEl! Who sells those again?
#22
It's the same mentality that makes people act like motorcycles have no right to be on the road. Amazingly enough, after I installed the 3rd brake light pulser on my car, the incidents of tailgating have abated. If someone is too close, I lightly tap the brake, without slowing the car. Magically, they always pull back. I don't know if they think I am a cop or I'm shooting a laser at them, but, who cares? It works!
#24
This has been discussed before. Do you really think its tailgaiting or is it a perception issue because the tailgate is so close to the driver and then nothing? If found that what I thought were people way too close in rush hour traffic, in fact, they were fine.