I'm almost starting to get worried (its only 3 mo old). I have been in 5 near accidents -- fortunatly, the brakes are good.

1. Going around a turn on a 4 lane road. I'm in the far right lane, someone else merges into my lane. The MINI's bonnett is at their passengers side door. Within inches of hitting me, the brakes prevent it from happening. But they still got ahead of me...then the other driver locks up their brakes panicking. Almost hit them in the rear -- once again fortunatly the MINI has good brakes.

2. Another 4 lane road. Traffic in the left lane is stopped, waiting to turn. I'm going down the right lane. Someone cuts into my lane at the last second. The back end of the van would have hit the MINI's bonnett. Once again, God bless good brakes.

3. Going down a 2 lane road and someone parked on the side of the road pulls out seconds before I passed them. Fortunaly, no one was on the oncoming lane, as I skidded and turned to get away from the person.

4. Highway - a girl whose got her seat reclined so far that you can barely see her head through the window while driving side by side with me decides she wants my lane. She doesn't look, nearly hitting the side of my MINI while merging into my lane.

5. Highway - the guy ahead in an SUV of me slams on his brakes and then makes an irratic turn off the highway onto an exit ramp. The person behind me would have surely hit me had I not thrown the car towards the right, taking the exit ramp also.

What's up with some of these people??
Erik

 

That's OK... you're not alone... one week, I was cut off (BADLY) by a rusted bronco twice, and the next day i had to drive into the shoulder of the thruway because some idiot decided that he HAD to be in my lane (of course, this was after almost running into me eariler on a regular road...)

Rocketboy_X

 

I haven't had any of the type you describe in 1 - 3. I did have a #4 (although this sort of thing happens often on the Interstate in/to all cars IMO). I haven't had a #5...and it sounds like your biggest problem there was that traffic must have been too packed together. If you were 5+ car lengths (recommended if you were going 50mph or more) from the SUV and the person behind you was about that far from you, then no one should have had to do anything evasive.

The only type of near miss that I've had (several times in 18,000 miles) and the only one I truly think is attributed to the MINI's size (which I guess is where you're going with this thread) is the "almost rear-ended 'cause they didn't see you stopped" accident. For that, improved brake lights help.

Otherwise, good old defensive driving is in order as always.

 

Every freakin' day, at least twice. If I could mount a laser on the front of my MINI there'd be at least 50 less drivers on the road each and every day.

As an ex bank teller, I can't begin to tell you just how many people are out there driving around with no license. I'd see it all the time when they'd drive thru to cash a check with their ID card, not a license. VERY SCARY!!! :evil:

R

 

Last Saturday, I had two near misses at friggin' four way stop intersections. In one case, the bozo thought that if the car in front of him stopped at the sign, that was sufficient for him too. Damn near clobbered me. The second was stranger still. The guy was smiling and looking right at the MINI, as he breezed past the stop sign. And I don't even have the FHM paintjob on my hood! Sometimes its best not to be noticed.

 

Well I was almost run off the road by the crazy driver in the white Jeep.....and I've almost been rear ended a couple of times. :smile:

 

One was me comming around a slow truck to find a STOPPED car on his side! I hit the brakes and the Anti-locks kicked in. I'd say that was my closest.

Then Almost 2x a week some moron in some type of SUV (seems like white is the color for this post) merges into the lane I'm in, pushing me to another lane or speeding up/braking to get out of his way

It just goes to show that MINI drivers need to keep their eyes open at all times.

 

Oddly enough, I've been in fewer near missed with my LY MINI than I had in my old marron colored Sentra or in my old White Neon.

I think it's the color choice. Liquid Yellow is very hard to miss on a car as tall as the MINI.

 

Every time I drive on 676 or the "Surekill Distressway" iin Philadelphia I'm almost in an accident. Those roads are always an accident waiting to happen.

The last incident was on 676, when I noticed the car in front of me (in somewhat heavy traffic) was suddenly skidding donw the road - SIDEWAYS - for no apparent reason...

 

There have been a lot of situations since I had the MINI that could have been a LOT worse if I wasn't so aware of my surroundings. The worst one, though, was when I was going on I-25. 3 lanes southbound, Hyundai Sonata in the left, me in the right, nothing in the middle. We were mostly parallel and simultaneously decided we wanted the middle lane. The scary part was that I'd had the car just briefly when this happened, so I wasn't used to reacting like that and I over corrected and almost went into an exit lane.

 

>>Every freakin' day, at least twice. If I could mount a laser on the front of my MINI there'd be at least 50 less drivers on the road each and every day.
>>
>>As an ex bank teller, I can't begin to tell you just how many people are out there driving around with no license. I'd see it all the time when they'd drive thru to cash a check with their ID card, not a license. VERY SCARY!!! :evil:
>>
>>R

To follow up on the no license thing, I was listening to a local radio station one day here in New Jersey, and they gave a statistic that 16% of the people driving on the roads at any given time in this state are doing so without a license. That's 1 out of every 6 cars! Unbelievable! I don't know what the statistics are from other states, but I'm sure they are similar, but most other states don't have the overcrowding that New Jersey does, so that just compounds the problem.

 

There's a great little twistie road in the Black Hills - Wy 89 and Wy 87 between Custer and Hill City (as you go north towards Rushmore ...) ... kinda like a Dragon Tail thing but more "rustic" ...
I was snaking through the turns and came around a hairpin to find a land yacht plowing across the line and looking me straight in the eye from My Lane!! ... I passed from the British side and continued on my way, gasping for breath and thankful i had a car that could get in the other lane quickly ...

 

It happens a LOT... I think at least part of it is driving in Boston traffic... you just DON'T leave assured clear distance between cars. I can't stomach that thought, so I leave space between myself and the car I'm behind. Lots of people lane-jump trying to get 3 feet ahead of where they were before and so... they steer right in front of me. And then slam on their brakes because they're tailgating the person in front of them now. It's crazy out there!

I think in city situations most people just don't THINK that I could be moving that quickly. Maybe they see a small car and assume that it's something like a Kia or a Metro that's not capable of accelerating. I have little patience for this and have been known to NOT slow down for them - the mini has a louder horn than they're expecting, too

 

The most common reaction after one of those near accidents I see is one of "what are you doing there?" There's a road in my neighborhood that is usually near empty, save for parked cars. People cut the corners turning on or off of it. People that live on it don't often look for traffic when pulling out. That one time in 100 when I'm there, it's like "where did you come from?"

 

>>Every time I drive on 676 or the "Surekill Distressway" iin Philadelphia I'm almost in an accident. Those roads are always an accident waiting to happen.

It is also a windshield waiting to break with all of the rubble falling off of the trucks and construction crap getting kicked up. MINI likes Rt. 23 much better.

 

People are always pulling out in front of me to the point where I have to hit the breaks hard in order not to run up on them. What is it? Do MINIs appear to be further away than they really are?

Over the past weekend I came really close to getting T-boned. I was approaching the corner leaving my cul-de-sac where the road Ts to a main road. The visibility is limited as both roads go up hill at that point and shrubs block some of the view. Well, I was about 20 or 30 feet from the stop sign when a kid approaching from the main road was in the process of getting pulled over. He kinda turned into our development but instead of making a full turn, he just kept going straight across the road until he realized that I was there and he slammed on his breaks. I had to swerve off the road a bit in order to avoid being hit. I was really glad that there wasn't a curb there. He stopped within a couple of feet of my door. I just gave him a real dirty look and shook my head and rolled my eyes at the cop. When I was finished running around, the two cars were still blocking the street and the kid was in the back of the squad car.

 

If I was counting, say four, maybe five 'almosts'. ALL of them due to moronic SUV SOB's and mommies in minivans. Aren't you all just SHOCKED to hear this?

 

Some of these stories want to make me get a hand gun when I go to buy a MINI. I will be a mobile darwin award presenter

 

None so far. I'm super, super cautious, especially of truck and SUV blind spots. (...just don't trust 'em!) I also took to riding a train to work and have to be literally forced to leave my town (...with fairly sane traffic) to head to "the big city."

 

My MINI I treat as a bike.
they don't see you, not that they really can't, they just don't!
riding a two lane HWY in the right lane. see car on right waiting to pull out onto the HWY.
being causious, let off the throttle, waa laa THEY pull out directly into the fast lane!
Gee Thanks! I don't have to slow down, you just gave me a heart attack!!!

Another N. Florida favorite is NASCAR!, people don't drive, they have to get into the draft!
I-95 this area is messed up, there are CLUMPS of cars, traveling 75 to 85 MPH with a 1/4 to 1/2 second between them! C'mon people your gonna get hurt!

It's okay, I have total control of the car while I talk about who slept with who on the cell phone!!!! goood night! what did we do with out them?

Yes I've had SEMI's pul in front of me, like tuff S$%#
but I go along and tell them that they are #1, if you know what I mean

just my 1/2 cents worth

_________________

Me and the coops!