On 2005-10-07, Happy Dog wrote:
In this country, at least, the Mini had quite a good safety record
despite its lack of crashworthiness. Since a Mini was my student car, I
know why - you feel very vulnerable in a Mini. So you drive bloody
carefully and try and avoid the situations in the first place that may
result in a crash.

Oh please. Kids will drive like maniacs in anything. Anything. Teenage
boys are unstoppable when it comes to reckless behaviour and there are sound
biological reasons for this.

No, I related my own teenage experience. I was *not* reckless in my Mini
because I felt vulnerable in it doing stupid things, so I didn't do
stupid things. Other teenagers I knew who owned Minis generally also
drove MUCH more carefully than their peers - because they also felt
vulnerable.

Of course, careful is relative; my definition of careful at the time is
probably reckless to an old fart like yourself g But it was
(relatively speaking) a lot more careful than my friends. I never roofed
my car. None of my Mini-owning friends roofed their cars. However,
friends with larger cars often roofed theirs, and some to an extent that
a couple of them were uninsurable even in a Fiat 126 (which can't pull
the skin of rice pudding)

--
Dylan Smith, Port St Mary, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
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