A confluence of three factors almost led to disaster on yesterday's ride home.

I was riding to the right on a wide, quiet residential street where I had not encountered a moving car for blocks. I passed an intersection where a car on my left was approaching slowly. Half-way down the block on the sidewalk on the right was a 7-10 year old kid trying to hold back a large, barking dog. The dog saw me and began dragging the kid towards me the street. I was worried the dog would break loose, so I wanted to swing to the other side of the street.

I looked in my take-a-look mirror and saw the car from the intersection was now behind me rolling slowly but drifting towards the right and there was a parked car just head of me. I couldn't swing left around the parked car because of the car approaching behind me and the curb was too high to jump with the bike. I looked in my mirror again and the approaching car was square behind me and I could see the driver head down, texting with both hands.

I honked my AirZound airhorn and saw his surprised face lift up and saw his car nose down as he hit the brakes. I turned my head to see him pull around me and resume texting before he even cleared me and the parked car. I tried to catch up to him, but when he saw me in his rear-view mirror, he took off.

Luckily the kid managed to keep the dog in check.

At first I thought, had I not been there the texter would have hit the parked car. But now I wonder I registered in his peripheral vision as a vehicle in traffic and he just blindly followed me as he may have another car.

At the point the texter looked up to see me I had slowed to a near stop but with feet still in the toe clips, and he was going under 10mph, but I still could have been hurt badly by having my legs crushed between the vehicles.

I was just a little too far from the curb to jump onto it with or without bike, and I could have possibly jumped onto the trunk of the parked car without the bike, but really, I don't think I would have had the time or dexterity to do either.

My horn really helped.

Just thought I'd share this incident to see what others may have done or might do in this or similar situations.