I reckon (and I may have even done this myself), that in a possible confrontation between a car and a pushy, the driver has in the back of his/her mind: "fuk it, it's only a bike; nothing will happen to ME"

This is why they pull out in front of us so often -- they know we have brakes, and if it comes to the CRUNCH (ha), we'll obviously be the one coming off second best.