Originally Posted by bostontrevor
Unfortunately (?) there were no damages.
To fill in the story, I was riding down the street, the bus pulls out to pass me (across a solid yellow line at that), the light changes and traffic was oncoming. The driver wants to merge back in but there's no place for me to go other than into a line of parked cars. I give the driver the "stay back" hand and he taps me with the bus. I almost lost control but didn't.
So I suppose I can sue for assault, but it doesn't seem like I have much of a case without any damages.
You may not have been able to press charges for damages, but at the very least shouldn't you have sent an email reporting the incident to the MBTA, CC'd to a bicycle advocacy group or two, maybe a Globe journalist just to round it off? That kind of action is just beyond the pale - in my opinion, it amounts to threatening your life. Not something to just shrug off.