Be careful

[OTB]

My wife tells me that I used to be a hothead in a car when people did stupid stuff : I’d cuss and swear, give people the one-finger salute, flash my brights at laggerts in the fast lane, and lift my foot from the gas, or mebbe just touch the brakes a tad to scare the sheiss out tailgaters. Then a few years ago I had a couple of close calls; I lifted my foot from the gas of my minivan when I had some butthead tailgating me. Turned out there was a serious mental case behind the wheel of that jacked-up 4x4; he passed me sideways on the shoulder of the beltway and then slammed on his brakes and jerked the wheel, blocking two lanes of traffic, I swerved around him and so began a high-speed chase that lasted 5 miles or so and ended when he tried to force me off the road. I rolled down my window and pointed my Python at him. He left in a hurry.

A year or so ago, I was riding to work. A fellow ran a stop light and nearly mangled me. I had the audacity to beep my pathetic horn at him as he breezed by scant inches from my front wheel. Screech of brakes and blue tire smoke, the clown spins the wheel and does his best Hollywood stuntman imitation spin, and tries to run me down AGAIN….. I was riding a GSXR at the time, so I left him in the dust in a hurry.

But those to incidences pretty much cured me of the need to make on the fly comments about other folk’s driving. There’s just too many people driving “on the edge” for me to wave my middle finger. Even if I’m within my “rights”, I’m still wrong to provoke these idiots. I shudder to think what my life would be like today if I’d had to shoot that crazy man in the 4x4. The hundreds and thousands of dollars defending criminal and wrongful death suits. Waiting for the outcome of investigations and grand juries. NO THANKS..

I spent a couple hours stall in traffic Friday afternoon, listening to metro traffic control describe fatal accident and a road closing near my house. Grabbed the paper Saturday morning to see this on the front page:


and this story: http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi...08/04_26-48/TO


We'll see what the investigation brings, but I'll make a bet the guy in the Contour will be charged with manslaughter; even if he isn't, he'll be sued till Kingdom Come, and even if he prevails, the legal costs will be staggering.

Watch out for the crazies....being "right" won't help you. ESPECIALLY on a bike.