Anyone for bringing some safety ideas to this thread instead of hijacking the North Bay Drive # 12: Clear Lake on and off roads thread?

Quick recap:
People are worried about safety when we go on drives together. psoper made a good point that although we've had our share of accidents, if someone were ever to actually get hurt or if we were ever to hurt a bystander , there would probably be a nice lawsuit and we would probably never go on a drive like this again. It seems clear that the two options are A) to never do another drive again (boooo) and B) to try and see if we can make them safer. (I guess the third option is to go slower...BOOOOO)

Any ideas?

 

not only that
but so far every single drive, someone crashs's

i've been on almost every single one, im just waiting for my # :\

 

I'll start

I dont know if I like the 1-minute intervals idea. Pete, correct me if I'm wrong, but the justification for that would be to make sure noone is feeling like they're being pushed too hard. I think that people just need to be mature about this. If someones in your rearview, let them by. If you cant keep up with the next guy, then dont. On the Sunday Sonoma drive, Mike and I seemed to be the first in line of the slower half, so you crazies in the front were always taking off and we never tried to seriously keep up. This also meant that there was always someone behind us (blue STi...cant remember name) but we always talked to him at the stops and he always said that he was glad we were in front of him. It seems to me that the group naturally sorts itself according to skill on the open roads, before we get to the crazy ones.

I think its good to have a visual early warning system (ie looking at the car in front of you for hazard lights, etc.) But I think it would be SUPER key to have radio comms. Even if we only had two (which I could supply BTW) we could split the group into two caravans (which is really what happened last time) and give the leader of each a radio. If a hazard (civilian traffic, pedestrians, cattle grates followed by a steep hill ) is spotted, the lead car could slow his group down around the hazard and also radio it back to the slower group.

This would just mean that Rich would, well, in the words of Jane "the leader would be the only one thats really screwed". But at least everyone behind would know about the BIG-@SS DIESEL DODGE!! I swear our car had only a few inches clearance on either side.

My ideas are humbly submitted for your approval.

-Dom

 

I agree Dom,
These are all good ideas to be throwing around. I like the radio idea a lot.
I think its great that everyone is willing to be honest and open about this.
-Mike

 

If you are seriously considering the radio thing, I will donate some voice activated headsets. Without them, radios seem difficult to handle when driving.

Let me know,
Kevin

 

Kevin that would be unbelievably tight. I was thinking that codrivers/ navigators could work the radios (since thats the position Im relegated to just kidding, I love it) but if we had headsets that would be great too.

-Dom

 

ya
there is no way i can drive and handle a hand held radio at the same time, it would just be more dangerous :\

 

Hehe yeah thats pretty obvious. We'd need codrivers or headsets. I'm already a codriver, so I dont mind handling the radio. Dont know if there are other people willing to be "passengers" though...

 

prolly bset to ask friends of yours to co drive, rather than another suby enthusiast who has a car that can be driven

i'd just let the driver figure out his/her own co driver stuff

 

I think it would go a long way to just reiterate, just before the drive and IN PERSON, that it's not a race, and there is no shame in being passed. No matter how fast you are, there is someone faster.

The last drive I went on I found myself trying to stay ahead of a guy in a purple GTi, but there was just no comparison skill wise. It was much safer to pull over, and actually better for me to see his lines/brakepoints.

 

I'm already balanz's (Mike) codriver. I dont even own a Subaru...you guys are just way more fun to hang out with/drive with than the BMW people/forums I've been on. From what I remember from last time, our car could probably be the front of the "later half" caravan...just a thought


Totally. On the Sunday Sonoma drive, we always pulled over to let people by (like I said, in the beginning, the group naturally sorted itself out according to skill level) and then at every stop we were asking if people wanted to go ahead of us just in case. I would hope everyone else would have similar practice.

Thats one of the things I love about this group- we're not out to impress anybody...we're just out there to have fun and work on our own skills. (Except for me, because my BMW wouldnt be able to keep up )

 

That's the only option. There simply are no other ways to make group drives "safe". The closest you can come to that is ensuring that all of the drivers on the drive are of the same skill level. Too many new and inexperienced drivers push too hard trying to keep up. I know from first hand experience how easy a brief mistake can turn into a big problem. Anyway, the point is simple- if you plan to do anything approaching "fun" driving, it's not gonna get any safer.

 

Well, I think the key to being safe is to have everyone drive within their limits.

Like BAN said, too often a new guy tries too hard to keep up with the faster crowd and gets in to trouble. You have to know your limits and keep your pride in check - no one will look down on your for not being the fastest guy out there, but think how stupid you'll feel if you wreck.

The only way to get this kind of driver is to get mature drivers. If you wanna do a fast canyon run, get people you know can handle their cars and that you trust to stay within their skill level. If you want to do a drive with newer people, plan to be slower. It's better to be slow than dead. And always, always, always, make sure the people who are going on the drive won't make stupid *** moves, such as passing around a blind corner, or up a hill, or over a double yellow. That **** is dumb, and can cause you or someone else to die.

I love drives. So far the drives in the Sac area have been pretty safe. One thing I've always noticed is that the faster drivers go fast, and the slower drivers go slow. I'm one of the slower guys and I always wave the faster guys by and hang back. Once one person shows it's ok to go slower, the newer or other slow guys will follow the example.

 

very well put.
my first ride out with you guys was the north bay drive on saturday.
It was a fast pace, at least for my skill level. it is easy to push your limits in those roads.
i like the radio idea, i think that key to going slower and letting the newer drivers hang back is communication.
Just to know that there are meetings spots, and that you can communicate with the group, Cell phons never work out there, so a good set of radios work.

I agree with BAN here though.
have you guys ever assign positions to cars based on skill level?

 

Another thing - since not everyone has those FRS radios, a good way to make sure the group stays together, and that the slower guys don't feel the need to keep up (for fear of being left behind), is to set up check points along the way, where everyone stops, takes in the scenery and lets people catch up.

This way you can keep the group together, make decisions about food, or bathroom breaks or whatever, and there's no real need to go as fast as you can. Go as you can and get there when ya get there