So, yesterday I am going to the store. Feeling good because I just saw a LB/B MCS- no wave, but still. I take seeing MINIs as a sign of good luck. Well, not today.

I was driving on 176 in Libertyville headed east towards Lake Bluff, and I had just passed under 94. There is a light there for Lambs Farm, and there is also an off ramp. So, this incredibly stupid woman in her van full of presumably screaming children is trying to "turn" onto the off ramp to get "on" to 94. She has her turn signal on and everything and i'm thinking "What are you doing?!". No sooner than I thought that, she moves her car back into the left lane and is just sitting there...so I had to make an emergency swerve into the right lane and back into the left lane to avoid rear ending her.

Collision avoided! Yes! But, in the process of doing so I hit the biggest, deepest pot hole that couldn't be avoided because it was where the white dividing line used to be. I hit it so hard that my glove box came flying open and i immediately hear all of this wizzing air.

I pull into Lake Shore Harley...sure enough... the wheel had blasted off the rim. Just as I finish saying various obscenities, I see the woman responsible for this drive by slowly looking at me. Hey! Thanks for stopping to make sure everything was alright, a-hole...

I open the hatch to pull out my jack and spare tire only to discover that I don't have one! Apparently the tire is optional equipment?! WTF are you supposed to do!

The parking lot was packed with people trying too hard to look tough to see if I needed any assistance. It made me feel warm inside! Called the insurance company, got a flat bed to come out. If anyone needs a tow, Sal and Sons towed me and the dude was SO accomodating and nice.

So, I plan on filing a claim with IDOT about this gigantoid pothole. I mean, sure getting your special order tire blown off your rim is a bummer and I certainly don't feel like shelling out the dough for it, but it could have been A LOT worse if I had lost control of the car or any number of things that could have happened (but, luckily didn't). The pothole had to be close to a foot deep, that is so unsafe.

So anyway...be careful motoring! Pay attention at the wheel and dodge pot holes rallye style.

 

Sorry that happened. Unfortunately way to many people seem to be oblivious to other motorists these days.

Be sure to check the front suspension and the strut towers for damage before filing a claim with IDOT.

 

I feel your pain. I, too, was victimized by a pothole during the winter... totally trashed the rim and I was out of commission for a few days. The roads around Chicagoland totally suck to varying degrees of suckitude. Plus, other drivers suck. Hope there's a happy ending to this.

 

YIKES!

I see that you have an "S"...only the Justacoopers come with a spare because there's nowhere to put the spare due to the "S" exhaust system.

 

ive almost got wiped out by some trailertrash lady in a hyundai last monday
and also almost got literallyl pushed out of my left turn lane by some woman
driving a large benz last thurs. these people should not be driving a car.

 

Good call!

Not to sound like a square, but I take driving seriously...mostly because I enjoy not dying, and not going into the ER... but I don't talk on the phone, eat, or read a Walgreens insert like I saw one woman next to me doing. She also had a cig hanging out of her mouth...classy!

So, what do the rest of you S drivers do... run runflats? Today my mom said "Oh, just carry a spare in the back seat!"

 

Spares on MC only another reason I bought it

 

sorry to read this.. you get new stripes and now this

good call by Zaz also... make sure you get everything checked out. who knows what else might be loose, bent, etc...

People drive like they walk in the grocery store.. no clue... for example... the other day, I was going east on Golf Rd and a pickup truck decided to make a right turn, while I was next to him I hit the horn, the brakes and swerved to the right to avoid being sideswiped. then, on Friday, I was travelling west on 90 in WI and had to perform a highspeed maneuver to avoid debris. Some yo-yo didn't secure his crap and it ended up on the highway. I didn't think the MINI would be able to clear the debris, so I jumped to the left lane to avoid the blocks of wood. Fortunately I was alone and not in a pack.

Good luck on the repairs. Some people carry wheel slime for non-runflats, although some will argue against that practice. Some will carry a tire plug kit if they're able to pull out the nail/screw. Not sure if you want to carry a donut in the boot.. thats your other option.

 

I carry the ContiComfort Kit: http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/...tkit/index.jsp. Not as cozy as it sounds though. But in the winter I switch back to my all season, run-flats.

 

Sorry to hear about the damage, but nice job on the avoidance maneuver! I carry a Slime kit /w compressor ($20) along with a tire plug kit for my non-runflats. I've used both with success in the past year. However, those are useless with a blowout, such as you experienced.

 

Good luck with the claim. I hit a pothole on a CA freeway a number of years ago and was successful in getting reimbursement for it. After the incident I went back immediately and took pics of the pothole. I also took pics of the rim that was bent (and led to my flat tire).

I noticed within a few days of the incident the pothole was filled (not sure if it was due to my complaint, which I made via phone first and followed up with pics). If I didn't have the pics, I may not have been as fortunate!

Let us know how it turns out.

 

You had yours taken care of? That's refreshing! Well, I know that IDOT fulfills about 85% of the claims that are filed. I plan on taking as many photos as possible! The tow truck guy said he's been getting calls non-stop from that stretch of road..

If anyone is familiar with the area I was in, they'll know how is a disaster- they're already doing bridge work and there is so much truck traffic aside from that, the roads are literally crumbling.

 

I know the area. It is another one of the neglected highways in Northern Illinois. My neighbor, who works for a paving company, informed that it is the responsibility of the state for the even numbered highways. The odd numbered ones are taken care of by the local county or townships.

I had a woman in a Lexus almost drive me into the dividing median on 94SB yesterday south of 60. I had been behind her when she changed into the right lane. Apparently the traffic in the right lane was not fast enough for her because she started pulling into the left lane, which I was already occupying. Her driver door would have made contact with the front of my car. Quick application of the horn and a lot of brake avoided the collision and she continued on her merry way.

 

Today must have been THE DAY ... idiot woman near Oak Brook in her Lexus MegaDumpster, one-handing her &%$#@! cellphone and indifferent to the "look before you change lanes" rule almost took me out today -- another day I'm REALLY GRATEFUL for REALLY GOOD BRAKES ...

 

HAHAHAHA Lexus MegaDumpster. I HATE Lexuses, to me that's the car you get when you want a "status" and"luxury" car but don't know anything about them. My dad always says he wants one and I tell him how disapointed I'll be in him if he goes that route.

As a lady AND a person who doesn't like to make sweeping generalizations, I will say that I think most women are awful drivers. I think it has to do with the fact that women are kind of programed to be multi-taskers, but driving is definitely one of the only times when multi-tasking is a horrible idea. But, seeing as I am related to this dude, I can't be anything but pretty good at driving and go-karting.



What's with all of the people who run the reaaaaally stale yellow lights?

And the trucks that don't stay in the right lanes? Or the trucks that blow red lights? "Must get this load of rocks to the client! Very important! Doesn't matter if I kill anyone, big deal coming through...wheeeeeee!"

 

during this morning's drive on my MCS, a crap van driven by some woman
not paying attention almost smashed into me while i made a right
turn (at a green) and she makes a left turn but cuts 3 lanes into my
right lane while i was turning.

im starting to see a pattern here or wat?

 

Sorry for jumping in when I am nowhere near the area, but I saw the thread and had to comment.

I've been feeling so very much like other drivers are complete dorks lately after trying to avoid a high speed collision on the freeway. The woman behind me was talking on her hand set (this is illegal here) and following so close behind me that I could see what color her lipstick was in my rear view. This went on for about ten miles of road. The legal speed limit on rural freeways here is 70. If she had dropped her phone or hit a pothole, we would have been dead.

I also saw this news story this morning:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/transpo...ride11.article

The gist of it is that half of American drivers don't use their turn signals. HALF! 42% say they don't have time to flip a switch.

Drivers like that are the reason that I used to look for excuses to stay off the road. Now, in the MINI, at least I feel confident that my car is capable of avoiding a collision when I am placed in a dangerous situation. I don't have to depend on the car's safety features to save me. I can takes steps to save myself.

 

So who is that Auto Union driver? I can't make out the signature.

 

Bernd Rosemeyer, perhaps?

 

Yes, the picture is definitely of Bernd Rosemeyer:

http://search.live.com/images/result...eyer&mkt=en-us

 

the rest use turnsignals after the fact.... like going from 55mph to
15mph suddenly then flip on their turn signal to make a turn into the
side street.... all while everyone behind the idiot is panic stopping.

 

It is indeed Bernd!

How hard is it to flip a switch? I hate when people turn off their signal before they're even one tire into the lane. So, you let it blink once?! I swear in driver's end I learned it was IL law that you had to signal 3 times before turning off the blinker. But, I could totally be making that up...wishful thinking maybe. Not like it would matter. IE truckers in the left lane.

 

GAH!

this has happened to me SO many times lately that I now have to get my brakes checked...I smell them when they get hot (a smell that was embedded into my brain after my Maxima's calipers seized and my brakes almost caught fire. And yet, NO ONE told me that my car was completely smoked out! I'm sitting at the light thinking "Hmmm, smells like a truck made an emergency stop. Big surprise!". All along it was me, such compassion we have for one another, yeah?!)

 

Zagada:

I've been running non-runflats on my 02 MCS for several years and carry the Slime kit with the compressor. It's a great comrpessor that I take to autox too. You can get it at Autozone.

However, as Don stated that would not help in the blow out situation. You have to be towed.

I know that stretch is a mess, but I didn't realize there were holes that big. I've seen quite a few bad ones around, even on 94. I work in WI and they at least patched all the holes that formed in the seams between the rows of asphalt on I94.

Jim

 

Thanks- I should definitely pick that package up since you guys seem to have good results with it. Good investment.

Wisconsin roads are a joy to drive on compared to IL. I drove up to Eagle River solo for the 4th and was amazed at how smooth it was. IL roads have scarred me.