Stupid motorist trick...

We've all seen the run-of-the-mill stupid motorist tricks - the left hook, the right hook, and the oh-my-god-I-swear-I-never-saw-him-officer as they pull out in front of us from a side street. I experienced a brand new one today, a modified left hook.

I was traveling east on a 4 lane arterial with a 'suicide' lane in the middle. It doesn't have traffic islands, so the whole thing is a left turn lane. I merged left across the 2 travel lanes into the suicide lane. There was minimal traffic so this was easy. But as I approached the turn for my neighborhood, a car came by on my right, then started to merge into the lane right beside me! She was planning to make the same left turn, the only problem was that one of those pesky, uppity cyclists was in the way.

I started shouting in her window, "Don't you even THINK about it!"

She was startled and turned to stare at me. I made the turn and she followed into the neighborhood, remaining a safe distance behind me.

Sometimes it pays to be a loudmouth.