My 2 bobs worth!!

In my young and carefree youth I had two serious prangs in my Mini. First I was doing a right hand turn off a main country road into a side street and was shunted by a guy in a holden. He tried to say I turned suddenly without indicating - his skidmarks were 75 feet long - he lost. Car was drivable but the back seat was hard up against the front seats and the doors didn't open - crawled in and out the window
Second prang a guy did a right hand turn from behind a bus into a driveway across the main stream of traffic coming the other way - me. He collected the front drivers side wheel at right angles and pushed the engine half way out of the car. A bit further back and he would have got me It was amazing how well the car came up after repairs

On trucks- when driving an Army Studiebaker 6X6 through a country town I had a carload of oldies do a U turn in front of me - he didn't make the turn in one and stopped with his nose in the gutter. I stood on the brakes and burnt rubber to stop with the big tow hook just touching the back passenger window. The look of that old lady staring at the hook 6 inches away will stay with me forever. I didn't have to say a thing, some people standing on the footpath came over and abused the tripe out of the driver. I just backed up and waited till they got out of the way. - Good thing I was empty. All I could think about was the paperwork I would have had fill out if I had damaged an Army vehicle

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

An Army Studiebaker 6X6 would be a big contrast to driving a mini! I would imagine it would be a lot stronger than some sedan aswell. Lucky you stopped it in time.

I agree totally with the people saying motorcyclists are safer car drivers - well put, all of you. I've had my car and m/c licences for 22 years and am considerably safer than all my friends put together. But then again, 95% of people think they're a better-than-average driver...

The thing is, people drive safer in cars they perceive to be less safe, that's why Volvo drivers are amongst the worst - they don't care about you, because they're safe. I think mini drivers probably come up as empirically safer drivers than average for two reasons: their vehicles aren't as safe or large as others, and two, they're usually enthusiasts who care about driving. Which does you no good if someone hits you, although perhaps you'll be less likely to if, as all good drivers do, you make sure you're aware of your surroundings and anticipate others actions. Passive vs active safety...

Didn't help me in my last accident: Stopped to let a woman use a pedestrian crossing, and a fahkin' bitch hit me from behind, as if I wasn't there. I was on my old bike, an XR600, and knocked onto her bonnet and then the road, luckily uninjured. Loved reporting that one to the cops, since she didn't and faced charges for not doing so...