Road rage, up close

I had a first today, a near-physical confrontation with a driver during an incident of road rage -- or maybe just rage against cyclists. It was around 1 p.m., toward the end of a very pleasant lunch ride with Acura Matt. We'd ridden a nice loop through Macungie, Longswamp, and Alburtis, and were rolling back toward Emmaus on Indian Creek Road at the end of our loop when a driver in a new, red sedan roared up behind us, laid on his horn, then swerved into the oncoming lane to pass, honking as he went.

I'm not positive, but I think, as usual, I took my hand off the bar to wave a friendly hello to the displeased driver. I like to do this when I can, as I think the demonstrated disinterest in a confrontation is both confusing and disarming to angry drivers. Unfortunately, it didn't work in this case. No sooner had the car merged back into our lane than the driver slammed on the brakes, screeching to a halt directly in our path.

We weren't going too fast, but we didn't have a lot of room to stop, so we both slammed on our own brakes. Matt, who was riding closer to the edge of the road, slid off into the tweeters before coming to a stop alongside the car. I was to his left, and was a little less lucky, unable to stop before my shifter hit his trunk. It wasn't much more than a fender bender, but it was enough to cause some cosmetic damage to both my shifter and the car, as well as to dislodge the brake lever from its pivot (it snapped easily back into place).

There was an odd pause, until the driver emerged from the vehicle. It was an older man, and I was somewhat surprised by the aggression with which he came at us, appearing to want to start a fight. He was yelling, demanding to see our IDs, and yelling about the damage we'd caused to his car. Matt and I both drew our phones. He called 911 while I took a photo of the car's rear plate, all the while, the man kept yelling -- before getting back in his car and driving off. I believe that's called, "leaving the scene of an accident."

Meanwhile, Matt had reached an 911 operator, who sent a State trooper to take a statement from us, and from a witness who had seen the entire incident. I was pretty impressed by the police's response -- in addition to the officer who arrived promptly to take our statements, a second officer went to the driver's house, to try to locate him (he wasn't home). I am familiar with PA vehicle and traffic codes, as they pertain to cyclists, and it's pretty clear that Matt and I were riding in a manner consistent with the law -- riding two-abreast on the right side of our lane, without impeding the flow of traffic. In other words, riding along, minding our own business.

We'll see what charges come of it, hopefully the police will throw the book at this guy, but regardless, I'm mostly glad that neither Matt nor I were injured. The whole incident reminded me of the case of Christopher Thompson, a former doctor in California who pulled the exact same maneuver -- gravely injuring two cyclists in the process. That guy, though, received a five year prison sentence. I sort of doubt the punishment will be so severe in this case.

It goes to show, that even in a cycling-friendly area like this is, there are drivers all over who, for whatever reason, feel compelled to take their aggression out on us. We need to be safe out there. We also need to keep in mind, that when the inevitable confrontations do occur, we stand tall, stay cool, and resist the urge to weaken our standing in the eye of the law by turning to violence or other base instincts. In this case, it was impossible for either Matt or I to keep ourselves from yelling back at the man who had just attacked us with his car, but, despite being provoked, we did the right thing by calling proper authorities, rather than escalating the confrontation.

Oh, and getting the guy's tag number was an essential step that I highly recommend.