Last Thursday i lost the love of my life - and very much unpaid for - and almost killed me best friend. Although i'd love to say it was not driver error - i am 99% guilty. Earlier that day i'd had the 1st tire rotation done on the RM MCO at 10,000 miles, had planned to go to KC for the big 10,000 mile service and run me 2nd Scca Solo 11 event at Council Bluffs on Sun. Anyhow on me way to soccer (yes i still TRY to play) on thursday night the run-flat warning light started to flash. After reading the manual we got it to stop. NO AIR WAS MISSING FORM THE TIRES. To make a long story short we headed up a city road i travelled at speed many a time. There was a lot of water on the road due to sprinklers watering the office complexes. I'd gone through 3 curves doing 90mph when i came to a fairly sharp right hander - in a flash the whole back end came around - had not had this feeling before in the mini - so i panicked and braked hard. We flew sideways between 2 trees over a 6foot retaining wall. flipped twice at least. skidded on the driver's side and ended up on that side. Luckly i did not hit anybody & and did not injure or kill my friend. He told me we were a little over 90 mph. So now i feel among other things foolish, stupid for thinking i could control me car at speed. I had so many plans to get lessons etc. But i F***ed it all up. The bright side is this car does hold up, as i say we dropped over a 6 foot wall side ways at 90 mph and no injuries. Just thought i'd give my reasons for having to leave this great the board.

 

sorry to hear of ur misfortunes

glad to hear both of you are ok

people are more important than minis, they can always be replaced

 

Whoa doggy! Sounds like quite a ride. Glad you are both in good health :smile:

I know it might be a bit of a touchy question, but do you have any pics of how the car faired? :???:

Sorry for your loss...

 

>>Whoa doggy! Sounds like quite a ride. Glad you are both in good health :smile:
>>
>>I know it might be a bit of a touchy question, but do you have any pics of how the car faired? :???:
>>
>>Sorry for your loss...

Man I thought I was the only person who was going to be sick enough to ask for pics. I remember seeing a pic of a mini laying upside down after a reck and it looked really solid so I was just curious to see what a mini looked like after a 6ft wall. Hope I don't come across as insensitive, just a bit curious.

Blake

 

>>>>Whoa doggy! Sounds like quite a ride. Glad you are both in good health :smile:
>>>>
>>>>I know it might be a bit of a touchy question, but do you have any pics of how the car faired? :???:
>>>>
>>>>Sorry for your loss...
>>
>>Man I thought I was the only person who was going to be sick enough to ask for pics. I remember seeing a pic of a mini laying upside down after a reck and it looked really solid so I was just curious to see what a mini looked like after a 6ft wall. Hope I don't come across as insensitive, just a bit curious.
>>
>>Blake
That pic was the reason for this request...

 

Man sorry for your car, glad your ok, BMW/MINI should buy you a new car so they can use your story as a testament to the MINIs safety. Also glad that you're honest.

 

Some people on this board may not like what I'm about to say....my response there is "tough"! I think this needs to be said...

Sad to hear a good car and your friend suffered from your stupidity! :evil: Luckily, it remained a one car accident, and you didn't involve some innocent driver or pedestrian with your insanity. 90mph on a city street..... that's real impressive! I've read numerous posts on this forum from people relating the ignorance and lower mentality of the street racing gang. You're no different from them, except you managed to sully the MINI's image by dragging it down to the same level in the eyes of a lot of people! Hopefully, whatever state you live in will see fit to remove you from the pool of licensed drivers and slap you with some hefty fines and damage payments!! Maybe that'll give you time to think about the distinction between a public road and the track! :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

>>Some people on this board may not like what I'm about to say....my response there is "tough"! I think this needs to be said...

Yeah, I dont like what you said.

--

Marzeetc: Almost all of us have probably been through some accident, maybe not as harsh, but you made mistakes, we all do. Sorry for the loss of the car but hey, at least you and your passenger are safe and I'm sure you already feel sick to your stomach about what happened. In the end you will come out stronger.

 

WOW - you're lucky you didn't kill somebody ! Going down the street past office buildings at 90mph! Some poor sole working late could have pulled out in front of you and you'd have killed them. To die just for wanting to make a living and stay at the office late on a Thursday! Or it could have been a lady and her three kids picking up her husband from work and they'd all be gone.

90mph is pretty fast on the freeway and it's limit is 70. and the freeway was built for speed, city roads aren't! I want to agree with the guy who said take it to the race track! just because the track is made for speed ! Always keep in mind who they built and engineered the roads for! Don't drive like it's the freeway when it's a neighborhood, etc... The way they build roads, streets, etc ... over city sewer systems is quite different than how they build freeways and race tracks!

I'd heard it is hard to roll a MINI. You talk with an attitude of pride over it but I can tell by your accent that you are not from Texas! (usually we Texans have that type of pride right before we see the pearly gates) but in Texas we use the word MY for ownership, ie "my friend", "on my way" etc... you use the word ME for ownership, which is definately not anyone from the south.

Good to know you weren't hurt!
Never forget that whole Darwin thing and how close you and your friend were from being taken out of the gene pool!!

 

marzeetc,
I'm very sorry to hear about your accident. No one needs to tell you about your error. The decision to speed under those conditions was your problem-please learn from that mistake. Some drivers, passengers, and innocent bystanders will pay with their lives for that type of error. In your case the outcome was in your favor. Thanks for being honest and letting us know that you are OK. Your MINI (like many others) has sacrificed itself to protect you.
Please remember to be careful and safe from now on. You might want to spend some time in emergency rooms where people not as fortunate are severely injured in motor vehicle accidents. It's truely horrible to see what happens then things go terribly wrong.

Some years ago I lost a very good friend (a surgeon with two young children) who was walking along in a residential area and was hit by a car that climbed up onto the sidewalk and struck her. It was a great loss.

 

>>Some people on this board may not like what I'm about to say....my response there is "tough"! I think this needs to be said...
>>

I agree with you... driving that recklessly through city streets is just stupid... especially when its wet. No offense, but you don't deserve a Mini. I hope your liscence gets permanantly revoked, and you get some jail time. I'll prolly get flak for saying that too. Luckily noone got killed.

 

marzeetc, glad to hear that you and your friend are okay.

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet, so I'll be the bad guy and bring it up.
BMW recommends not rotating the tires, or at least rotate them very frequently. Their reason was that the wear patterns between front and rear tires are very different, and by rotating them, your grip and handling would be compromised in the first few miles after rotation. Before the tires are worn down to the new wear pattern, your tire contact patch is reduced, thus your grip is great reduced as well.

It appears that BMW was correct in their recommendation. Since marzeetc's tires were rotated that morning, after 10,000 miles, his grip was probably compromised. For those who thinks that BMW recommends no tire rotation because maintenance is included, and they just want to save money, well, it appears that BMW had a point. (Besides, they have to take the wheels off to check the brakes during service, so rotating tires would not require any more work)

I hope everyone can learn from this, and either not rotate youir tires, or drive cautiously after rotating your tires. We should all thank marzeetc for teaching us all a very valuable lesson.

Let's all be careful out there! (flame suit on, and KatanaPilot goes in hiding)

 

>> i am 99% guilty.

I'm curious, who or what takes the blame for the remaining 1%? Certainly you can't blame the tires, the road or the company that waters the lawn. Seems you can take all 100%.

You show some remorse for what you did and I hope when you get behind the wheel next you remember this event. I don't know your age but I'd guess/hope your actions are a result of young bravado and immaturity. Take full responsibility for your actions, that is what being a grown up is all about. Unfortunately too many "adults" these days see too many other options. The worst part is before those types leave the gene pool they are bringing up kids with the same lack of responsibility.

Tell you friends about this marzeetc but not in the context of unrepentant smugness but rather as one who made a stupid error and is fortunate not to be faced with the life long fact that you killed some one.

 

3 curves doing 90mph..... HELLO?

 

>>>> i am 99% guilty.
I would guess 0.5% hardluck (wrong place at the wrong time) and 0.5% fate.

Good point about tire rotation and for that matter tire pressure. When making changes gotta make some adjustments.
Even on the track the conditions will change from lap to lap as the day wears on. You simply cannot drive the same and expect the same results. Your MINI is constantly changing (tires heating up) and the road is too.

For me my mistakes are 100% mine. Can you give me a slap right now?
Thanks. A reality check is good sometimes.

 

sorry but i do not have a digital camera; however i belive a guy from the business where we landed was taking photos as i was being interviewed by the police, hopefully i can get them on here.
ps i am fully responsible for the stupid way i drove. as we very spinning in the air my friend told me later that i was screaming "what stupid thing have i done". i know i was wrong and had put the 99% out there hoping somehow i should have been able to control the car. i believe i will learn from this. i thank GOD i did not injure anyone especially my friend. I had a soft spot for this car and somehow thought the road was my race track. i am, believe it or not middle aged, but i have the maturity of a 16yr old. As i say thank GOD for not having hurt anyone else. no smugness here sir.

 

Marzeetc,

What the F*** were you thinking? 90mph in a commercial park, with office buildings all around you? I'll say that you were lucky not to have caused serious bodily injury or death to anyone. Poor judgment and reckless operation = gross negligence. We have race tracks for speed, not some poor commuter's office to home shlep route. Sorry that I can't be sympathetic to your cause, but for that kind of mistake, they should take away your license for at least a year.

You owe your friend a sincere apology and I would not be surprised if they never ride with you again.

 

Marzeetc,
Glad you & your friend are OK... (This is a stroke of luck whether you actually realize it or not)
The car is replaceable.... as I've mentioned more times than I would have liked to..... on many similar type posts...... regarding people who trash thier MINI's. The instances of these type of posts are becomming much toooooo frequent!!!!!

Hope you learned your lesson!!!!!
Time will tell.

Here's what frightens me....ALOT!!!!!!
If one choses to be negligent while driving and manages to screw up his/her life soley.... it maye be an unpopular stance...but IMHO... it's your life-do what you want with it.

Here's the rub....
When you can possibly screw up some one elses life.... ie a passenger or an innocent bystander...then I have no tolerance...NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You deserve the .... most severe....most compromising..... most debilitating ramifications for your actions!!!!!!!!
There are no excuses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace,
D

_________________
I own a 2002 MCS w/ alot of stuff on it.

 

Yup! D I agree.

 

Our parents always mentioned RESPONSIBILITY. Learn the meaning of the word. Own up, fess up, and get on with your life learning and taking the RESPONSIBILITY for your actions, however silly, stupid, and selfish they may be . It could have been worse. Learn well, drive well.

 

PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE PPPPPPPPPLEASE, ENOUGH

Marzeetc knows he messed up, he realizes that his driving at the time was inappropriate, he sounds real sorry, but nevertheless bashing Marzeetc time is over.
I have a good friend who became very irate with a young lady. He proceeded in his rage to drive his Toyota Supra in a most reckless fashion. A mutual friend who is a city police officer clocked him at 125mph approx. 200yards before "deadmans curve". The young man is now paralyzed from mid-chest down. I know the hazards of driving like a maniac and so does Marzeetc, first hand. I would bet a months pay Marzeetc would never do anything so foolish again. Please remember the rules of the community, no personal attacks. Many of these posts were. Do not bash, educate.

Glad to hear you and your friend are OK Marzeetc, if you do get another Mini learn from your mistakes and Happy Motoring.

 

WOW Most tires have about half the traction on wet than dry. You would've probley still lost control at 45mph!

 

>>PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE PPPPPPPPPLEASE, ENOUGH
>>
>>Marzeetc knows he messed up, he realizes that his driving at the time was inappropriate, he sounds real sorry, but nevertheless bashing Marzeetc time is over.

1st let me say...I'm not bashing him!!!!!!
I'm helpng him...by explaining how lucky he was... and how this MUST be a wake-up call!!!!!

I'm stating the obvious....which is completely obvious..... that he did not understand prior to this incident and has not had enough time to prove that he understands this NOW!!!!!!

My dad used to say... "don't say you're sorry ...just don't do it"
Simple concept... which speaks volumes about human behavior.

It took guts for him to post to the board his incident and that is a sign of responsibility and understanding of what went wrong. Kudos to him for that step :smile:
Don't on the other hand think..because he's sorry the incident should now be forgotten or disappear. He needs to be reminded ... and have it presented from various sources..... his actions were incorrect. His disregard for human life..his & his friends or possibly innocents who could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time....could have had catastrophic results!!!!!!
He was lucky.!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm apologize for ranting...but this is SERIOUS!!!!!!!!

Peace,
D

 

I Ditto D.

Ten years ago, my wife and I were victims of a drunk driver hit and run. My car was totaled, and both of us ended up in hospital with broken bones (always wear your seatbelts, folks). So yes, I am intolerant of acts of stupidity behind the wheel. Fessing up is a step in the right direction, but not the end all. there is a small issue of restitution (making others whole who were injured by the negligent actor). Hopefully M's friend is 100% ok, but if not, then M is responsible for making that person whole. The state permits M to drive, it is a privilege not a right, as M may well find out. Two Hail Mary's and a Novena ain't gonna cut this one. The community where M lives is the offended party, along with M's friend. It is up to the community (police, prosecutor and judge) to determine if M's activities warrent action. I for one believe that some "down time" in the form of restricted or suspended driving privileges would do more good than a fine or other form of punishment. Why? To learn from your mistakes and be remorseful for the damage that you caused. M has damaged other people's property as well as his own. That he be held accountable is only just.

_________________
BLUBELLE - 2003 MCS IB /W Premium, Sport, Cold pkgs, Lapis blue interior, Magnecor wires, Alta Pulley, Moss Skid Plate, Chrome Trim Interior

 

Doing 90MPH on city streets, with low pressure in one of the tires, on a wet road late at night???????? :evil:


Glad to hear you are OK, but my symphaties stop right there.