this is intriguing...but what happens if you adjust your seat or move your head/driving position in any way? And what's to prevent the driver from constantly staring at the tape and not what's ahead? I only ask out of curiosity.

 

I disagree somewhat with that... If your car is being driven illegally, then don't lend it out.

I personally would have issues in lending my car if they person was driving recklessly in it. Not only for the potential harm they can do to the car, but also to others on the roads too.

and ok, sure not all of those touching or crossings are totally reckless, but crossing a double line is against the law is it not?

If we need to have a sign out system for our cars to prove that we were not in the vehicle at the time the photo radar was taken, then so be it.

 

I just noticed what you have quoted there. If you have to go through all that to tell where to drive on a road like that, I'm sorry but you have absolutely no business driving the Dragon. (not you but the person you quoted)

 

yeah, that's along the same lines as I was thinking. As I said before too, as this was my first year at MOTD and first time on the dragon, I would have really appreciated having a qualified experienced driver in my passenger's seat. I said really early on in this thread that one of my biggest helps was having a navi to give me heads up on what to expect. But that just gets into knowing the road better. What I would appreciate most in having someone with me would be all the same things that you are talking about discussing in the gravel lot. Someone to see the lines I'm taking and knowing the entrance and exite speeds.

If we can keep this thread on track, I think we can come up with some great ideas.

Oh, and I did appreciate the subtle humor in the Top Gun theme.

 

Oh, I dunno...the original quote there wasn't too bad, since it was meant for newbies who are very wary of twisties. Some people seem to act almost AFRAID of the way their cars handle! I'd rather them listen to a suggestion like this and improve than to just not drive. As for kgblu's note...well...that was kinda silly and self-explanatory. Need more coffee, kg? If you find yourself staring at the tape, take it down and figure something else out to help you. If you move the seat, and you NEED the tape, um...move the tape???? Either way - move within your limits.

 

Maybe it's just me, but all those drivers appear to be giving photographers room while they stood at the edge of the roadway taking these stupid photos......Wouldn't it have been prudent to at least blurred the owner's plates before posting to the world, and LE ?

Secondly, there is NO brakedown lane last I checked......so they and part of their MINI/transportation must have been blocking part of the roadway for these shots......?

 

.....? No, these photos were taken by professional photographers on some of the pull-off sites. Periodically along the Dragon there are a number of gravelled areas where you can pull off anywhere from 3-10 cars. PhotoReflect doesn't watermark their shots, and if you buy your photos from Killboy, they remove their watermark.

 

I think you're a bit confused. All those photos were taken by the Dragon photographers who work out there every day (Killboy, Zee Foto, US129 Photo and Moonshine Photo). They park well off the road on curves where this is plenty of room to park a car and use short-range zoom lenses to make the photos. So they are nowhere near us when the photos are made (well maybe 20 feet or more away).

The photos are already posted on their sites without the license plates blurred and everyone who goes out there knows they're being photographed. It's a public road.

 

The pull-offs have plenty of room for the photogs on the outside of curves where there is a pull off. In fact, one of the photog's curves (I forget which site) we ended up pulling off at to check on geekswrath's damage because he thought he heard rubbing. Still plenty of room for us, the photog, and for people to safely make the turn without a problem.

I have seen on one occasion a photographer on the inside of a blind curve, and that did freak me out a little bit, but I've only seen that once, and it was a month or two before MOTD this year.

I don't think you can blame the crossing on the photogs, especially those photos where they're halfway or more in the other lane.

EDIT: I also never understood the fascination with blurring license plates. Unless it's a tag like mine (amateur radio), it's pretty difficult to track down information on the tag owner, isn't it?

 

Noted, edited while you were writing back apparently.

It is still my assertion they were giving the photographers a wide berth when driving past them and you are jumping to conclusions. Most of these MINI's appear to be cornering flat with no apparent load on the suspensions which could be an idication of low speed, hence no need to apex these corners.

I still say it is fopah to publish the cars/plates on the internet when they are allegedly comiting a moving violation.

 

+1 - thanks for posting... IT IS A PUBLIC ROAD. Sorry makes us (Minis) look bad. Has anyone else read how they would like to close that section of 129?

 

I ask because I'm trying to figure out how it'd be possible to do some kind of safety clinic for next years' newbies that doesn't cost a bucket of money and can be easily facilitated. Was thinking of tape, to be applied on all newbie cars and anyone else who wants one. Barry asked about the moving of one's head/driving position, so send him the coffee...I don't drink the stuff.
You got a better idea for a safety clinic for next year? let Barry know..then remind him again in October.

 

I appreciate your opinion but I can assure you that in no way, shape or form were any of those MINIs making the turns wide to avoid a photographer. The photographers set up in established pull off areas and sometimes they are there with a LEO right next to them. Some of these areas even have trash cans and picnic tables. They are meant to be used for someone who wants to pull off the road.

The fact that you are observing low speeds and folks are still cutting the corners makes it more disturbing to me. It indicates a conscious choice to cut the corner when speed wasn't even a factor.

As far as the license plates go, I was not the original publisher of the photos. They are all published in galleries every day by those photographers and practically every vehicle that goes by is photographed by someone most days. My first Dragon run was on vacation with my family in a Nissan Murano and Killboy got me.

If the LEOs want to look for violators they know where to look and their first choice would not be my one little video.

 

I'm on this Katie. Barry and I see each other all the time. Lots of good ideas coming in and that's what this is about.

 

I am amazed by this thread. I know some people look at driving as a means of getting from point A to point B (and some apparently in the straightest line possible)

Unfortunately, here in East Tennessee most drivers are very sloppy, thinking they are doing good straightening out the curves, never using signals, passing right on your bumper, "drafting"... after all that is what those NASCAR drivers do on TV. I attribute the average sloppy driving in this area to laziness, ignorance, and rudeness. So, if you are piloting a Mini around one of our curves, you better be prepared by not only staying on your side but also being ready to give up half of your own lane to some giant 'dooley' pick-up pulling a trailer load of lawn mowers.

I love to drive and to me, the driving is the event. I think most "motoring" enthusiasts would have the same interest in the drive and want to display the best "motoring" skills. It does take a little work drive well but it is within reach of almost everyone who cares.

Every time I get a new car, I learn exactly where my tires are. In my Jeep I am always smashing cans thrown out by littering bums. It is more fun when they are rolling across the road... kind of like target practice. On the Dragon or any of the other great roads around here, I know exactly where my tires are in relation to the lines. Doesn't matter if I am in the Mini, Jeep, Miata, family hauler, whatever. I would be truly embarrassed if a photo was produced of me driving across the line as, I am sure, a lot people in the video are.

Knowing where your tires are gives you lots of options when obstacles present themselves (ie, putting the tires between potholes, dodging large dead animals without going into opposing lane, etc.). Driving is fun, driving a Mini is very fun, driving well in a great little car is a very rewarding way to spend some time.

 

sad very sad, your job is to educate not incriminate don't ya think ?

 

To whom are you referring?

 

Absolutely agreed. I've spent a good deal of time shooting roadside at The Dragon (and was with Killboy a good part of one day). There is absolutely no need for drivers to react in any way to the photographers. They should no more have to cross the line to give a photographer room than they would for a tree or a picnic table. They are well off the road.

As for the speed issue, I also agree 100%: it's completely unrelated. Some of the worst offenders I've seen have been the slowest drivers. The driver of the silver cabrio in the video, for example, was cutting every corner and that was during the parade, at low speed. I was the car behind MINI Bee and saw it, too.

And as a photographer, I have to say thanks for the concerns over copyright. It's appreciated.

 

Sadly, I think they were referring to you, MINI Bee.

This would be a lot easier if people would get over the side issues and focus on the reason you started this thread.

 

If you don't want your car/plate posted then don't cross the yellow line in front of the person holding the camera. That's like saying we shouldn't post security camera shots of people robbing a bank.

 

Unless you were there, you have no idea of the situation.

And why would posting someones plate be wrong?

 

While this was an earlier post, I don't know how (short of renting billboard space at the entrance to Fontana) this could have been emphasized more.

On one Dragon run, I was behind a county pickup. I counted 33 very clear double-yellow violations (a tire completely over the opposite yellow such that there was pavement clearly visible between tire and yellow line) in the two miles it took him to pull off in front of a long line of Minis.

Now... should we open up a can-o-worms discussion on "excessive" speed? If you can control it, fine, but even the most experienced driver in our group (a veteran professional driving instructor with 100s of Dragon runs to his credit) was taken by surprise during one run.

The Dragon (and other fun local roads) are NOT to be driven at 10/10ths. They're public roads. Let's dance on them, enjoy them, maybe even carry a little fun, controllable speed, but 10/10ths driving is for racetracks only. Period. And even then, 9/10ths is as far as most people need to go.

 

I was listening to Black Ice! But that's no excuse for my clueless performance. I thought I was being quite carefull and looked as far down the road as possible looking for oncoming traffic.

I confess I didn't go to the newbies class and the "not crossing the line" issue was never passed on to me as being as important as it is (not that I drove over it intentionally!). Mini Bee's video is the wake up call I need and deserve as I appear to be the most egregious offender (4x on the vid!! yup, I'm JCW HTDG).

Embarrassing! I commit to the entire Mini community to clean up my act next year.

 

mowse.

This is what it is all about, information! And thanks for owning up.

 

Got a response back from Blount Co.

If folks are still interested, I'll try to make a trek up sometime this summer, and I'll be sure to request this year's information along with previous years if possible.

Or if someone is closer, there's the address I think they just don't want to put the information together, so the "formal written request in person" is code for "god, please don't make us work"