In city limits or the highway!! It seems that other drivers don't see my car. I have so many insidence where I'm so close to getting hit. I hate it. I love my car but I'm terrified to drive it.

 

i Feel your pain, i love driving a little car but i always feel like people are out to get me.

 

I feel safer in my MINI than I did in my S10.

 

Since picking up my S I've almost been tailboned twice ( within 30 days ). Both times the idiot had to run off the road to avoid hitting me. Maybe I'll move to Montana, become a dental-floss tycoon.

 

If you are terrified of your car, I would sell it and buy something that you are confortable in. MINIs have a lot of safety features and are very crash worthy for their size but that doesn't help how you feel.

 

There are some good defensive driving techiques you can learn/use. When you get used to using them, they'll be like a reflex. You won't even think about them.

I'm no expert, but some of the things I do are:

1. Always make sure the other driver sees you at an intersection before you pull into the intersection. (is he looking at you, etc...)

2. On a freeway, be aware of the other drivers blind spots and stay out of them (If I can't see the driver in his mirrors, then he can't see me)

3. In a parking lot, when another driver in a larger vehicle is backing up, assume that he/she can't see you (because the Mini is normally lower than other vehicles)

THE GOOD NEWS
When/if you ever have to avoid an accident at speed, you'll have a MUCH better chance of either stopping in time (because the Mini is lighter than most vehicles) or avoiding the accident all together (because the Mini is much more nimble than most vehicles)

Just my $.02. I'm not an expert or anything.

 

You'll probably get used to it. I dont feel like the MINI is small. My last car was a midsize sedan and I dont feel any less safe in this. It's really not THAT small. It's taller than many sedans, just shorter.

 

I think this has more to do with perception and the relative incompitance of so many drivers than it does with the actual size of the car. I've been nearly run off the road in all manner of vehicles, big and small, and have never noticed these near-death occurrances with any greater frequency in any of them.

#2 of the advice offered above is key in any vehicle -- don't hang out it the blind spots of other vehicles and it'll probably happen less.

Did you have small car concerns before purchasing the car? And is this feeling, perhaps, buyers remorse based on those pre-purcahse feelings?

 

Jinsun, I'll trade you your S for a 60's vintage Lincoln behemoth.

 

It will happen in any car you buy. I remember driving in my Corvette a couple times, and people pulling out in front of me and never seeing me. Yes the MINI is small, but people now a days don't care even more.

Medic

 

I put driving/fog lamps on both of mine, and had my headlights programmed for daytime use, too. This has helped my being visible dramatically. My foglights are also halo lights and can run whenever the headlights and/or parking lights are "on", as well. I think that this feature in itself makes the MINI a bit more noticeable, too. Ya just can't NOT have too many lights on your MINI.

If your MINI is an older one, consider getting that third light brake kit.

I also have at least one glow-in-the-dark sticker on the back end. Being visible is high priority with me.

 

try leaving your parking lights on, or running lights or headlights, all the time..it may not be legal in all states to do this but it greatly increases your visibility to other drivers who may half looking and half picking up their donuts and drinking coffee while driving

 

In the times I had scraps on the highways, it was the other guy with some sort of point to prove rather than the car not being seen.

 

If you park a Mini next to any other hatchback, the only size difference is usually the length. The Mini sits higher and wider than my MGB, and higher than my in-laws Corvette.

It's not the size of the car that people aren't seeing. They wouldn't see anything because they're too preoccupied yakiking on their cell phones, drinking their Starbucks, or fiddling with their stereos. You could be in a Hummer and still get hit.

At least in a Mini, you stand a better than good chance to avoid getting hit by being nimble.

 

there was one time that i almost got side swiped...
by a deer. they need to check their blind spots
while running.

 

Personally I think more and more people just don't care how poorly they drive. I too thought the # of people pulling out in front of me, or swerving to miss increased with my MINI, but I have noticed in recent years I am getting just as many people doing that in my 2+ton Volvo.

Now I am not trying to generalize, or say that everyone but MINI owners are bad drivers (there are plenty of MINI drivers that I think could use some help). I just firmly believe that more and more people just don't give a ****. Hence why we have some many parking lot dings.

 

Or you can do what I did and get one of these to feed your rage


Actually the H2 was here before the Mini. the Mini is my baby/compact/sports car I love driving it everyday, but you still need to look for other drivers... and I mean the ones with the H2s . A friend of mine was so convinced and was fed up with people while he was driving His Porsche Turbo that he got this black monster

 

Just keep passing people and you will be ok. Can't hit you if they can't catch you.

 

I too feel the pain... and it's mostly from people driving SUVs that feel the need to ride your bumper when you are already doing 10 over the speed limit and you are in the "slow" lane. But it is also the case when I'm in my truck as well, there are a lot of people that just drive like crap.

 

Your friend must be part of the more money then brains club!

 

Even if you decide to get a bigger vehicle, let's say an suv, just to make yourself seem more noticed on the road, you'll end up with other problems. I drive a mini suv, a 2003 Rav4, and I can't count the number of times people speed up just to cut in front of me. There's almost always no vehicles behind me when these idiots keep trying to get in front of me...and then they have the gall to slow down..wth!?!?! If you're gonna cut in front of me, at least go faster or keep speed. I end up redlining it to pass them and cut them off. Oh and since its the MINI forum..yes, I'm a closet Wannabee Mini owner... Saving up the downpayment as we speak to buy next year.

 

I can understand if this is your first small car. I drive it like I am riding a motorcycle. One thing they teach you in motorcycle riding school is SPIDE:

• Scan
• Predict
• Identify
• Determine
• Execute

Scan for objects/obstacles around/nera you that may be in your way
Predict what those objects/obstacles may do
Identify what those objects/obstacles are
Determine if you can avoid them
Execute the correct plan of action.

I am constantly looking around me for cars/trucks, pedestrians, and predicting if they are going to change lanes in front/next to me and I try and see 2 cars ahead of me and react to that car instead of the car in front of me. I also give the car behind me pleanty of time/room to react to my reactions because I really don't want to be hit.

I have driven in L.A., San Deigo, Las Vegas, Phoenix, ..... actually alot of places. I have been to 42 states and 4 countries and have driven in all of them and am constantly trying to be alert. There is really nothing I can say if you are scared of driving your vehicle except to either get over it or sell it.

Good luck.

 

I don't know what you're used to driving, but if this is your first small car, I think it's just that it's a different feeling after driving something larger. The Mini is small, but not so small as to be tough to see. Motorcycles are much smaller and can at times be a tricky to see. I think the suggestion to always drive with your headlights on is good advice. And (I'm not saying you're guilty of this), on the interstate, keep right, pass left. Too many people consider the left lane just another travel lane and poke along. Then, of course, faster drivers tailgate, hoping to send a "move over" message. And a tailgating SUV DOES look big in the Mini's rear view mirror.

 

We are soo... safe compared to people who ride motorcycles. We have lots of safety systems in our little rockets that protect us.

To increase your safety you can adopt a philosophy Ive learned from my motorcycle buddy's.

A. Assume your invisible & no one can see you.
B. Assume anyone who does see you is going to try to kill you.

If you adopt this motorcycle credo you will increase both your safety & your lifespan!

 

my advice: get a BIG horn, and don't be afraid to lean on it. works for me.