First of all, my 2003 Cooper is at the dealer for a week to repair and dry it out after the sunroof drain dumped multiple gallons of water into my driver's side footwell.

I was driving my 2005 Cooper (650 miles on the odometer) last night, and I came to a stop for a crosswalk only to hear a loud screech of tires behind me. I looked in the rearview and saw a car completely out of control, unable to stop and definitely headed straight for my bumper.

So, I dropped the clutch and hit the gas, and narrowly avoided being rear ended in my brand new car. This all happened within about three seconds. Luckily the person hadn't started to cross yet - they must have seen what was about to go down. I think that if they were in front of my car and I had stayed put, I would have been pushed into them anyway. I've seen that happen firsthand, and it's not pretty.

I got out of my car at the next light and let the driver have it. It was an Eclipse cabrio, so she couldn't get away from my verbal firestorm.

 

Good quick Thinking

 

Whew......way to think fast!!!!

Donna
02' CR/W MCS (gone to MINI heaven - burned up)
05' Cool Blue MCSC "Ariel"
05' HB/W MCS "Gizmo"

 

Was she talking on a cell phone
Good heads up

 

Probably... It was pretty dark though, so I couldn't tell. She wasn't yakking on it when I walked up to her car to yell at her a minute later.

 

Did you get out the Trunk MonkeyTM?

 

That would have been AWESOME. I would have had him jump out and do a nice hack job on her hood, maybe a conk on the head, and then "alright, back in the trunk."

 

Good thinking and quick reaction on your part...good job.

But, you guys need to look at the other side. Have you never had a close call ? I know if it were my wife you verbally abused or one of my daughters I would be hunting you down.

She didnt hit your car due to your quick reaction and that is awesome, but wait untill that unfortunate time when you may be in an accident that may be your fault, or your wife or children. Would you want someone yelling at them ? I doubt it. No need for road rage you never know who is in the car behind you or the car behind them. What would you have done if the girl you were yelling at was being followed home by her father who weighs 220lbs and loves to fight ( completly hypthetical ).... that would have sucked for you wouldnt it.

Mistakes happen, have just a touch more respect for your fellow man ( women ) if we all had just a touch more respect the world would be a much happier place.

Stepping off soap box now. sorry for the rant.

 

Chrisl, if this had happened here in Miami and you had the verbal exchange with the other "faulty" driver, you most likely would have been shot

Here in Miami you are advised to cool down when someone cuts you off because there have been many instances of people getting killed over petty road rage incidents.

On the other hand, I can see the shorter 1st gear of your new '05 MC saved the day!

 

Good job w/ the quick thinking there, Chris!

 

When I make such a mistake, I'll gladly take the heat for it. And I'm exaggerating when I refer to my "verbal firestorm" - I just loudly inquired whether or not she had ever heard of a crosswalk, and suggested that she pull her head out of her ***. And "if we all had just a touch more respect" people wouldn't be risking their lives every time they used a crosswalk. This driver could have seriously hurt someone.

 

Good job, luckily there was no car/pedestrian to allow this maneuver.

I have taken vigilant practice of watching in my rear view when stopped at a light. I find flashing the brake lights can help if you notice far enough in advance something stupid is about to happen.The light near my house get's backed up in the summer tourist season and people do not expect to be stopped 1/4 mile further back.

I am considering reflective boot/bonnet stripes just for the added visibility in this situation. Of course this does not help with someone talking on the phone in la-la land.

 

Exactly! It felt like I jumped forward about 15-20 feet in an instant, which avoided the collision.

 

I cringe just thinking about it. Hrmph. How old was the girl in the other car?

 

thanks for the heads up. I am scratching off Miami as one of the places to visit.

 

She looked college age, maybe 25 tops. And she was wearing a pink Red Sox hat. If the light wasn't about to change, I might have mentioned that, too.

 

I second that! Miami drivers are the worst drivers I have EVER seen. Picture sitting completely immobile through at least 25% of green lights during moderate traffic and 50-75% of lights during rush hour because of crazy people who believe that they have the right to make left hand turns on stale red signals just 'cause cars are not moving in the other direction YET or thinking that because the light is yellow they can proceed to fill the intersection with their cars and then sit blocking the way. These same people will of course likely assault you if you complain. It's downright sick. I digress... next time, try to be as careful as possible, cause I'd hate to hear of anything happening to a good MINI-driving person like yourself!

 

Lol . Let's just say you only want to visit if you'll a) have a chauffeur or b) be sitting on the beach all day. Any attempts at driving in this mess are seriously dangerous, especially if you're not used to it. You need to practice offensive/defensive driving to make it .

 

Sounds like the natives are restless in Miami. If you want scary driving you should visit Thailand. Or any of the far east countries.

 

TAXI!

 

Lucky

 

She sounds like she was cutie who was trying to make friends with you.
Seems like she went about it all wrong though.

 

on your quick reactions - near misses, as upsetting as they are, are much better then the alternative :smile:

Mistakes do happen, but then there is negligent, inattentive, and just inept/ignorant drivers who do not care to be any better or safer and they make me

Anyway, reflective bits is a good idea to get attention, and if you have the rear fog, or even hazards, putting them on when stopping at crosswalks or the like (unplanned stops unlike lights or stop signs) couldn't hurt.

PS: Just curious, what was the speed of the road and were you aware she was behind you or was she far away before you stopped? I'm just trying to visualize it.

 

Yes, Miami is a wild place to drive. Problem is that we have a lot of immigration from the caribbean, central and South America and most of these people don't know how to drive because they probably could never afford a car in their native countries or didn't need one. So in order for these new comers to survive here and sustain employment and go about their daily lives are suddenly faced with the need to get behind the wheel of a car.

Most other people that have been living here for a long time are simply flat out arrogant, dangerous, obnoxious and pompous losers that think that owning a car is the equivalent of owning a weapon for the purpose of intimidate others around you.

Immigration has done both good and bad to this town That's for sure.


If you are a tourist and just plan to stay in Miami Beach or the Downtown Area, probably you will not need a car. But if you are going farther away from these areas, a car is a must for mobility.

Miami is a nice town (If not overrated by the tourism industry) but damaged by the spoiled rotten attitude of the majority of its inhabitans

 

It happened on Huntington Avenue, which is a divided boulevard with two lanes on each side; we were both in the left lane, and the pedestrian was waiting to cross from the median. I knew she was behind me because I always check my rearview before I stop at crosswalks, but she was a good distance away, maybe 150 feet. Also I think the road surface was all chopped up for repaving, which probably didn't help her stopping ability any. It also meant that the lines for the crosswalk weren't there, but there's a road sign for it on both sides of the street.