Well, I had my first up close and personal experience with road rage a few weeks back. Was on my way to seminary (pursuing military chaplaincy after 18 yrs in the Marines) and shifted over to the left turn lane while approaching a stoplight. For whatever reason, the guy behind didn't like it, so he began honking at me. "Whatever," thinks I, and ignore him. Well, the light changes, and as I go thru the turn I notice that this guy's right on my tail - not more than a few feet off my rear tire - and honking his horn the whole time! I try to accelerate away but he just speeds up with me and continues to tail me. I decide the best move is to try to turn onto a side street at the earliest opportunity, so I move over to the left side of the left lane. The moment I do so, he comes zooming up past me - in the same lane, mind you - in his big ol' pickup and then swerves in front of me, forcing me to quickly choose between rear-ending him, hitting the median, or laying the bike down.
Suffice it to say that I chose the latter.
After sliding about 50-60 feet, I manage to look up only to see him speeding off. Some helpful types came over and assisted in getting me and the bike off the street, and the cops were on the scene in a matter of minutes. Fortunately, the lady behind the pickup at the stoplight had seen the whole thing and followed the driver til he reached his destination - a whole 1/3 of a mile away! She came back and directed the cops as to where to find him, and they took him into custody within minutes. Charged with "Assault With A Deadly Weapon (other than a firearm)" he is.
I managed to walk away with only some road rash on my knee, but my '05 America (which I'd only had for a few weeks) is now in the shop to replace all the scratched/dinged up parts. Still, I'm lucky that it didn't end up worse...
