I must say I've always had very good experiences on the area roadways (touch wood), but then I don't venture out like I used to. Folks seem very courteous of the MINI...no exceptions to this I can recall. Perhaps I am extremely intimidating...just a guess.

 

Actually, that is a misconception. There was a presumption that one who rear-ends someone is at fault, but that presumption could be overcome by the facts.

 

Very true, skuzzy. My point simply was that it is not necessary for there to have been a specific "pull in front and hit the brakes is illegal" statute.

 

I do indeed know what you speak of daffodildeb. I have a stretch of 114 her ein the Metroplex that is not safe to drive on unless you are doing 75 to 80 MPH. And even then half the traffic will still be passing you.

It had been a long while since I had been on that stretch and I got on it yesterday with Romi. We are motoring along at 65 and getting passed on both sides like we were standing still. The ones comiing up behind me were waiting until the last minute to change lanes. Ok,..this was going to be arecipe for disaster.

So I sped up to 70,..no good. 75,..and the cars were passing slower, but still passing. Apparently 80MPH was the median speed. Even though the speed limit was 60MPH. At one point a policeman pulls onto the freeway and NO ONE SLOWS DOWN,...INCLUDING THE POLICEMAN! ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!

I would not have minded so much, but I am still breaking Romi in and the roads still had patches of water on them from the rain that had happened about an hour beforehand.
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LynnEl, some states may need the statute as they may have a law on the books concerning read end collisions. California being one of the more litigous states (no offense folks) and one that has a reputation for awarding big money in civil cases, would probably need it.

 

You'd go beserk if you drove on I-285 out in Atlanta.

 

I - 5 South Orange County if your not doing 80 your in the way,posted 65.This is a very crowded freeway ,slows down to a crawl though when they have to clean up the frequent accidents.

 

I dunt(tm) mind driving fast. But, you have to understand my kharma. If I so much as think about doing the speed the rest of the trafic is doing, I will be instantly surrounded by S.W.A.T., helicopters from the FBI, and the local police backing them all up.

True story; I got a ticket one day for an out of dat inspection sticker. My fault, got busted. Okey-dokey. Less than 1 mile down the road, Igot another ticket from a different policeman for the same thing. I metion I just got that ticket and show it and he smiles and says, "Well, you got another one.", hands me the ticket amd rides off.

I go to court, after getting my inspection (it was only 8 days out of date) and show the judge, He says yes, but you got it after the ticket. I said yes, but I was told if I came to court with proof the court would be lenient.

He says, "You were told wrong, that'll be court costs of $150.00 for wasting the courts time". Now, our wonderful judiciary system is such that I had to make two court appointments due to having two tickets.

As luck would have it, they were back to back with the same judge. Baliff calls court ticket #xxxxx and I stand. The judge looks at me,..looks at the cause. He looks up again, "Same thing",...yes you honor, "Same car",...yes your honor. "That will be $300 in court costs and fine". Yes your honor.

That day costs me $600.00. That is my kind of luck. And the judge that did that to me resigned 3 days later under investigation for taking bribes.

Anyway,..so I am paranoid when it comes to breaking the law, or even being perceived as breaking the law.

 

Jeepers! Was there no way to appeal?

I bet you have your car inspected monthly now!

 

Skuzzy,I,m picturing you with long hair and a beard ,mabey go clean cut and the fuzz will back off.

 

Thats double jeapordy, you cant be tried for the same crime twice.!! You should have appealed it.

 

Wow! I was caught twice for speeding within the space of 2 hours a few years ago. The second officer took my license to his car but let me go with a warning once I started waving the yellow paper in his face!

 

Probably more due to the fact my car, at the time, was a 300ZX Twin Turbo.

Double jeopardy does not apply. There were two separate charges involved. The fact they were the same violation does not matter. I talked to a couple of lawyers about it, and they all concurred I was pretty much screwed.

The point is, that is how my luck/kharma runs. My Wife is constantly amazed at the stupid things that happen to me. She once drove her Volvo, with an expired license tag, for 8 months. And that is her kind of luck. Together, I suppose it keeps balance in the kharmic universe, but it is a real bummer being on the bad end of the kharma see-saw, which is either coming down in the mud, or going up under a low table.

 

Skuzzy, Proverbs 3:11-12 My son despise not the chastening of the Lord dont be tired of his correction:for those the Lord loves He corrects ;even as the father the son in who he delights.

 

That's all swell korby, but it still does not diminish the frustration and anguish to be at the end of it.

 

Naw, it's probably because he did something to **** off Shiva.

 

Heck, I wish I knew what it was. All the Wife does is spend a lot of time laughing her butt off at me.

She has things happen like going to a mall, during the busiest day of the year, and pulling into the parking lot and having someone move allowing her to park right in front of the entrance to the mall.

Me, on the other hand, I have to park 4 miles away, only to come back and find my car being towed away as the city rezoned the spot I was in while I was in the mall.

 

Do you guys not have a switch in your toggle bank labeled "STEALTH"? All you do is flip it down if you wanna be seen or up if you wanna be invisible. MBE all you guys with the trouble keep forgetting to disable it

 

Skuzzy, I do thank you for mentioning the state inspection. I realized that I hadn't looked at the inspection sticker on the 530i in a while. Oops.

I know what I'm doing this afternoon. Driving the Barge. Ugh.

 

During designated hours in rush hour brake down lane use is permitted. Yesterday I was in the brake down lane as traffic usually moves faster at this time. A mini van half in her lane and half in the brake down lane in front of me. She moves over to her lane. I go to pass her to get away from her. She starts to merge back into the breakdown lane as I go to pass almost taking out the left side of my car. I hit the brakes and avoided a collision. I'm not sure whether she could see me or was just a bad driver.

 

I've only had my MCS a little while, but I've had the opposite experience: seems like people all LOOK at my car. Especially top down (the car, not mine!). Hope the trend continues! I am loving my car and I don't want anyone to hurt her!

 

CeeTee,

Take heart. A friend of mine here in Los Angeles drives a white ford explorer. He was rear ended while stopped in morning traffic twice in two weeks. Both times it was by people in small cars. Go figure.

I guess we just have to be as careful and aware as we can while driving. Personally, I plan to buy a mellow yellow MC with a white top.

 

At least it wasn't her drivers license that was expired for ? years!

 

Robin,

I just got my R56 and the Pulsar. Were you able to get yours to work? The directions they sent don't look the same for the 2007 R56. Did you have to remove the black panel cover and were you able to get it back into place? If so, any tips. Thanks.

 

Hello everybody,

While I am sorry for not properly introducing myself elsewhere, (I'm working on the specs for my MCS for some time now) I actually found this thread by specifically searching this concern of mine.

Living in the DC Metro has gotten me rather used to the insane way some people choose to drive around here (don't get me started on cell phones!). I thought I would just add something I noticed.

I am no stranger to smaller cars and people kind of ignoring them... but I'm also no stranger to modding cars either and I have come to find out that a healthy sound makes life a little easier in this regard. My old S2000 and my 5th Generation Prelude were both heavily modified...and not those ridiculous grapefruit-shooter exhausts either. In fact I retained the stock mufflers...strickly engine work.

As soon as I made these changes I noticed that people...well..notice you more. I wasn't obnoxiously loud..the sound was just more sporting I suppose. It isn't a matter of driving style either... My g/f driving my Honda like Grandma Moses did so with the same general results. A little more of a throaty growl had people hearing me coming or going even if they "didn't see me".

I'm thinking that some form of exhaust upgrade is in my mini future..as well as a long wait for it to get here :(

Thank you guys for all the advice/help I've found and sorry for the book.

 

My last car was a Ford Focus hatch which was much more similar to a MINI in size and stature than my current vehicle, a Dodge Durango.

In the Focus I was almost constantly on edge watching for vehicles in all directions. I can't count the number of times over the four or so years I owned it that I had to swerve out of my lane, brake hard, or accelerate to avoid people simply taking over my space on the highways. It wasn't a matter of them being a-holes; I really got the sense they were oblivious to my even being there.

It happened often so I started driving with my lights on at all times. It did help a little.

It's the polar opposite in my SUV. There's a reason SUV drivers seem so brash on the roads; people naturally can see something that's so much larger and tend to avoid it and don't threaten my space on the roads at all. I've not been cut off and rarely needed to defensively react to oblivious drivers.

In this country there are a lot of really large vehicles on the road, and not all of the drivers of them are as observant as I am; with that in mind I keep a sharp eye out for smaller cars as I'm driving because of my past experience in my Focus hatchback. But it is, honestly, harder to spot smaller cars on my sides, at my rear, and because of the large A-columns in my truck. It's just the visual physics involved.