I was driving my car this morning (multimodal commuter here), and the car right in front of me going the same direction, drove off the road with two wheels on the soft shoulder, over-corrected twice, ended up skidding up someone's driveway, and slammed into a brick column. Airbags deployed. No one was seriously injured. This is a popular bike commuting route, and if a bike had been there, they would've been toast. I think the person may have been texting, but don't know for sure.

This is SO ******* hard to do, but enough of those ICMs(idiot cager moments) will eat one up if one lets them. For about 2 years I rode 'angry' ALL the time. Probably should've been in some sort of anger management program, seriously. Can't think of the number of cagers I cussed out or one-upped. Then one day the thought hit me that the only one who was suffering was...me. I was miserable on my commutes. That was about 8 years ago. My state of mind is much better these days.

This is not to suggest the OP is in need of AM it's just my experience w/situations of a similar type and the way I coped at the time.

It gets better with time. I don't get upset that much any more, unless it's really close. Not worth the stress. Spit on them, it helps

It's not just cars and bikes either!

Yesterday I was walking across the lane in front of the Walmart going to my car, and a woman came toward me pushing a shopping cart.

I continued on across in front of her in the direction of my car, and I figured she would be going around behind me since she was going into the store, and then she got really upset, and said, "EXCUSE YOU SIR!"

I'm just glad she wasn't driving a car, since she probably didn't realize we were both pedestrians, and since she was pushing a cart, I guess she figured I was the one that had to yeild. LOL!

Not really. Think of the wave as giving the driver the finger... times 5. It's enough to make me smile.

Seriously, I feel compelled to take action, but find that I get the same satisfaction whether I wave or a flash the bird. Often, the driver will see the wave and wave back.... and feel like sh*t for the rest of the day for abusing me.

Wind is predictable.

when this happens to me, and it does occasionally, before i react, i try to ask myself, if the person was trying to do my harm , or just didn't see me .

in the first case, i may react to them depending on their size, age, sex, and whether or not they are alone , in the second case i just let it go, and if it was a close call, remind myself to not make assumptions about my perceived visibility.

Wait.... you grew up in Texas, didn't you?

It's so bad around here that I've almost been rear-ended several times both in my car and on my bike because I actually DO stop at stop signs, and nobody expects it. The 2nd car back is already looking to see if there's oncoming traffic and if there is none is already planning to blow the sign, and is expecting the car in front of them to do so too.

No, no, no. I have no need for Anger Management. I would have to be numb from the neck up to not have a shot of 5-hour adrenaline after the little "contest" we had over who owned the lane at the time. Normally, I am a smiler and waver when I ride, because I ride for fun and fitness, not to make a statement or save $$$ on gas.

Best part of it was I thought it was a coworker, who was going to hear from me. Did a parking lot prowl and didn't see the car, and the coworker was not yet in the office when I got there. THAT part turned out good - I was still under Adrenal Gland influence at the time and I would have likely said something stoopid.

I usually operate as though every driver will do something idiotic at me or near me, but this one was just amazing. And I can see it now as they zipped up the bag around me and the officer was interviewing her: "I never saw him - he came out of nowhere..."