ok I KNOW there was a passer who has been trouble now for 2 years, and I hear of a few people flashing brights at people at night to get them to drive faster.

I have one thing to say.

CUT IT OUT DAMMIT!!!

I do not know how better to put it and Mark, I am sorry to be this blunt here, but we have had one major accident that thankfully did not cost a life.

The roads in that area are DEADLY if you do not drive to your ability, that of your car, and those around you run into you OR RUN YOU OFF THE ROAD by passing on the Dragon.

As far as the flashing of bright lights, know that classics have nowhere near the lights that the current year MINIs have and have no auto dimming mirrors either. A MINI behind me with low beams is almost blinding, one in front blinds me, and well I just do my best to keep going and I can handle this. I think if I had a flasher behind me I'd have to come to a complete stop as I would completely loose sight of the road infront of me.

I do not know what more to say, if you have a slower driver ahead of you, pull off to the little spots if you can and wait for a space in the traffic to run in, or just deal with it and take another run. I had over 5 people come to me personally about the passer who I am sure enough of you know who he is for me to need to mention. In addition more than 5 people overhearing these conversations chimed in to complain as well.

Again Mark, I am sorry for the flippant manner that this topic started, but it is a real issue that I wish those involved had the common sense enough to correct their insane behaviors from last year, but sadly this is not the case.

 

Great post Xanthus...people should not be bullying eachother

I also feel it is the responcability of slower drivers/cars to pull off....it is very easy to pull off and let others by...

I never flashed my lights but I did get stuck behind some people that could have pulled off to let me by...and I refuse to pass on the double yellow on that road cause it's just not safe....

 

Not sure who the ****** driving the blue mini with dubs was, but the crap he was pulling passing people in the corners was messed up.

 

I about shat my pants when I saw it too. I feared if anyone was coming around that corner. Thank God no one was when I witnessed it.

 

Several people mentioned the bikers doing crazy things and passing MINIs over the weekend. It astonishes me that a MINI would do that to a MINI, but I saw it and it happened to me.

Sorry that I do not always feel like taking the Dragon at 100%. Sometimes, like when you are coming back from a day of Autocross, you just want to drive a little slower and take it easy. I try to pull out of the way for folks as soon as it is safe for me to do so.

Being passed on the Dragon is scary and not called for.

 

Agreed on the pulling over but I only pull off on the way to X-roads as to pull off on the other way means crossing over the oncoming lane and I would only do that if I had a good view of the next bit of the road and new it was clear.

The other thing is if you want some clearer runs come on Wednesday and run it early on Thursday or even earlier if your schedule and budget permit.

 

I didn't have any encounters with rude MINIs, but I did come across a group of bikers that had the potential to be deadly. They were from Michigan and I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they were new.. and thus didn't quite know what to do. They were travelling in a pack of 8 or so and every time they lost sight of each other they'd slow down to the point of stopping.. yeah... stopping... right in the middle of a turn.. Once they were all grouped up, they would set off again.. until they were separated and did it all over again.

We actually decided to follow them instead of pulling over. I'm sure the people further back eventually got annoyed, but better to move slow than have someone come barrelling around a turn and find them stopped in the middle of the road. I hope they caught on to the proper etiquette by the end of their trip.

 

I had a rocket scientist in an electric blue MINI pass me Friday afternoon, roads were slick, a slowish moving Honda Accord ahead of me and this potential bone graft donor passes both of us on an inside turn....unbelievable...

 

I know exactly who the "bad" driver of the EB MINI is... and I witnessed his blatantly reckless driving too. Pending Mark F's approval, I may start a "MOTD4 Thread of Shame" to publicly list all NAM usernames of people who were caught on video OR witnessed by two independent accounts, blatantly line crossing or other egregiously dangerous driving. Touching the line or accidentally putting one wheel over it is bad too, but would not qualify.

Perhaps peer pressure would have some effect. Other than that, repeat offenders being asked not to attend? Ideas?

 

Well I would like to throw my hat in the biatching ring...

This was my first Dragon & I enjoyed driving Wed & Thurs but as the roads got more crowded the idiot factor got way out of hand.

There is a difference between spirited driving & reckless driving. Spirited driving IMHO is over the speed limit, fun, & safe. Reckless driving involves tires squealing, yellow line cross-overs, & the very real possibility of losing control of your Mini. Reckless driving endangers the driver & those around them. If you are stupid enough to drive the dragon & break-neck speeds & kill yourself, fine, but don't take me out with you. I know slower drivers should pull over but just because I am not willing to drive fast enough to risk death (& I'm not out there driving like Grandma Moses either) doesn't mean that I should have to pull over 15 times for people who have death wishes during the 11 mile dragon run. Nor should I feel compelled & pushed (as I was each time I drove it) to drive 70+ MPH on 28 when leaving Fontana. Mini owners who drive at the ridiculous speeds I witnessed way too many times @ MOTD are going to either kill someone or bring in so many complaints that the NC & TN police will camp out at every turn & punish us all.

The dragon is not your personal race track. It is a public road. You do not need to light the dragon in the dark with your obnoxious rally lights so you can drive it at night like it is a race track. People better realize this because as MOTD grows each year there will be more & more wrecks & possibly deaths due to idiot driving.

Ok I feel better now that I got that off my chest

 

i agree...and think that the owner of the EB should really re-think his driving habits. Grow up and take it to the track

 

OK, it's official... this guy is a menace. I'm not one to normally attack people on a message board - especially one with people as cool and kind as the MINIacs. But this guy nearly ran me over last year in the Fontana rec center parking lot when he decided to rev his engine and squeal his tires with people walking everywhere. At the time I gave him the benefit of the doubt... then I read this stuff. But there's no doubt he's a bonehead and drives like a :censored: . I didn't do the midnight run and I'm glad now.

As far as I'm concerned he's not part of the MINI crowd. He should hang with daredevil motorcycle riders or ricers or... whoever it is that gets their kicks that way.

 

Excellet advice. I couldn't make it to the Dragon this year( tough I have been around MINI drivers who hadn't excersiced caution and ben through many twisties including those in TN), but when it was still an option this type of behavoir was pne of my larger fears. Yes there are lots of turns, and yes things move better than in the city; but there were over 500 MINIs in the same relative 11 mile area. There are other people out there, of varying experiances and skill levels and it is every drivers responsibilty to act accordingly.

I have also heard of instances where oil was dumped on the road in the corners, reckless drving and find something like is a recipe for disaster.

The double yellow is there for a reason. Drive Safe.

 

I am glad I am not the only voice here.

Remember if you have a slow run due to ANYONE in front of you, get back on and drive it again.

The event is more crowded every year and well people just have to deal with it.

Show up early, stay late, or as Sunshine Minis did have a fall event that you are sure to get more runs in. I barely run the damn thing on the big days for that very reason, I show up early or stay late (not having car issues would have been excellent too).

 

Good idea... but it's a public road and a free country. Good luck trying to keep jerks away.

We could all point and laugh like Nelson Muntz when we see him. Public shaming may have an effect.

 

Yes excellent advice & may I add......do not make the slower driver in front of you feel unwelcome & pressured to drive faster than they feel safe doing. MOTD is an event for everyone, not just speed demons

Common courtesy runs rampant among Mini owners. I would hate to see our rep change

 

Well one could always continuously make someone feel unwelcome.

I am not encouraging the breaking of any laws, but constant a battery of different people telling him off may work to remove him from the event.

 

Perhaps the mpre appropriate action is to enocourage this person to make smarter safer choices so the don't end up wrapped around a tree or worse.

 

As true as that is this individual seems to lack the ability to make use of such advise.

 

Just a comment from an outsider, just would hate to hear about someone loosing their life or ending up in the hospital because they were ostracized instead of guided. But I'm also aware others can only do so much. Its quite sad really.

 

As one of the "original" Dragon slayers (meaning I've been to every one of them,) I have to say that whoever the moron was in the EB/W MCS with the ghetto looking rims was scaring the crap out of everyone in the MINI with me, as well as myself. He gave us a bad reputation. His driving showed his lack of respect for everyone out there...EVERYONE.

 

You do have wise advice on this one. And sadly this is a repeat of last years antics.

I have been to all these save the first one so I have watched it get more and more crowded and dangerous.

 

While I wasnt passed by any MINIs, I did encounter a couple of crazed bikers who insisted on passing the train of cars that I was stuck in a couple times. Since they are gonna pass me no matter what, I keep to the rightmost of my lane and give them as much room as I can and leave a space for them to tuck in front if they have to (and they had to, once ). The opposite also occurred as a couple different cruisers rode at an inordinately low speed, refusing to pull over and let the traffic they were collecting to go around. I got my 'good' runs in, and used the slow times to pay a bit more attention to the surroundings and the moves of oncoming traffic. Ya gotta take the "good" with the "bad" on the Dragon, unfortunately.

What some do to make the best of some slowpoke in the road ahead is to let them gain a bit of distance through the 'better' turns, then go into those at a more 'appropriate' speed as you catch back up. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Any car that passes another without the leading car making way is flirting with serious disaster. Same with bikes. As crowded as this weekend was, I am surprised there were not far more incidents.

As for rally lights/high beams: use them if there is no one in front of you or coming at you. Dim them otherwise. I had once instance of 'retina burn' that made me have to back off till it cleared.

 

Yes this guy was definitely out of hand, impatient, iressponible and generally a BAD driver. He was hounding and bothering the 1030 Scenic drive group before we stopped for lunch. I was running caboose duty and he tagged onto the back of the group in front of me while i turned around due to my clutch troubles. He was waving his arms, revving his engine, and swerving back and forth because he thought the group was going too slow through some mountains roads. Then when they pulled onto a 2 lane road he blew past everybody by running a stop sign.

I'm guessing this is the culprit everybody is talking about??? I caught these pics of him as he blew past us at our scenic stop on the Smokey Mountain Highway...

 

I went up to the Dragon with the Atlanta club 2 weeks early for a "Pre-MOTD4" day. I was glad I had the chance to do a few runs on a weekday with almost no traffic other than us. When I came up for the real MOTD4, I made sure to get my runs in on Wednesday and early Thursday since I know I'm not going to go as fast as alot of more experienced drivers, and I really wanted to practice the skills I just starting learning in the BMW driving school I went to in March. When I went out with the group on Friday morning for the Dragon Parade, I was behind someone who crossed the yellow line so often it really scared me. I don't mean just a bit over the line, but more than half the car width over, not even trying to stay in. When we got to the bridge and the turnaround I made sure to let them head back way before I got back on the road. I wasn't sure what the etiquette was, whether I should have said something or what so I didn't, but man I didn't want to be behind them when they crossed the yellow with an SUV coming at them!
As to the yahoo in the EB, I saw one scary manuever and decided to stay off the Dragon for a bit.
What I was really pleased about was how safety conscience everyone seemed to be on the Midnight run, at least from my place in the pack (the last quarter of the group I'd guess). Everyone seemed to be out for a good run and didn't try to "push" anyone into driving beyond their abilities, Thanks all for that!
Annette