near miss

[jay]

No accidents enroute to work... it was close, though. On the onramp to 101, some bozo in a Mitsubishi compact with a huge rear spoiler pulled on to the closed left lane (construction) in order to cut in front of me and another car. Since this was clearly both disrespectful and a boundary violation, I responded by accelerating on to the shoulder and then cutting in in front of him at an angle such that he either had to let me in or lose his front bumper. As we traded one-fingered salutes while merging on to the freeway, I nearly tail-ended someone else backed-up from the 85 onramp... stopped just inches short. My right calf is still sore... but the Mitsubishi driver gave me a wide berth afterwards. Boundaries... enforced. :)

Comments

[geekchick]

Boundaries... enforced. :)

Um. Yeah. You're really lucky you didn't slam into the back of the stopped car; was the risk of injury and damage to two vehicles really worth not letting someone cut in front of you? C. behaves the same way when driving, and it makes me absolutely insane (especially since it's usually done in my car).

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Especially since the vehicle he would have rear-ended would have been an innocent bystander, so to speak.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Yes, and I was willing to damage his vehicle if he hadn't yielded in turn. But you're right about the stopped car.

As far as doing so in *your* car... ouch. That's really risky, as you don't have comparable mass or the horsepower to drive more assertively. That Mitsubishi could probably outrun your Mazda, even with the drag of the former's decals and ridiculous giant rear spoiler...

[geekchick]

Yes, the Lancer (I assume that's what it was) could easily outrun my car. I have a family sedan, not anything that even remotely resembles a sports car.

Yes, and I was willing to damage his vehicle if he hadn't yielded in turn.

Honestly? This statement scares me. It is not worth damaging your car, taking the financial hit that your newly-exorbitant insurance premiums would cause (as I can see pretty much no way you'd *not* be at fault for driving on the shoulder and cutting in to traffic in a travel lane to force someone else to stop, much less rear-ending a stopped car), possibly injuring yourself and the other driver, and generally behaving like every bit as big an asshole as the guy who cut you off just because you're cranky that some jerk cut in front of you.