I was riding my motorcycle the other day doing the speed limit on a back road and saw a car on a side street (right hand side) about 1/4 mile ahead of me. He was stopped at a stop sign apparently waiting to enter the street I was riding on. As I approached, while he had plenty of time to enter the roadway in front of me, he didn't move. As I got closer, and right about at the point where it was unsafe for him to do so, he made a right turn from the side street and entered my street in front of me in the direction I was moving. I had to hit the brakes (not particularly hard mind you) to avoid hitting him. He sped off in front of me and I chalked it up to a driver who wasn't paying attention - probably on the phone. I didn't accelerate to catch him or flip him off or do anything that would be considered aggressive. To be honest, it happens all the time and it wasn't really a big deal.
So...he sped off in front of me for about a mile, stopped at a stop sign, turned right and came to an intersection with a light. I went in the same direction but was far behind him still doing the speed limit. I didn't catch up to him at the stop sign, but I did pull up behind him at the red light.
At the light, he appeared to flip me the bird through his back window. Again, I didn't respond or do anything to escalate the situation, but I now figured something was up with him so I was paying more attention to him. There were 2 vehicles in front of him and I was directly behind him.
The light turned green. The 2 vehicles in front of him went through the intersection and he didn't move. I waited for a fair amount of time (the other vehicles were already though the intersection of a 4 lane road) and then, figuring he was looking for trouble, pulled out to his left and went through the intersection (still a green light). As soon as I passed his car, he jumped on the gas and accelerated beside and past me almost running me off the road. Once he was through the intersection, he pulled over to the shoulder.
I pulled up beside him and he opened his window. The reason I did not just continue riding is because I thought he may chase me in his car and try to run me off the road or hit me.
I said to him "Dude, what is your problem? You almost killed me back there!".
At this point, he opened his door, started approaching me and wanted to fight. He said something like "get off your bike and we'll see how tough you are"...or something like that.
As he approached me, I pulled about 10 feet ahead so a.) he wouldn't knock me off my bike and b.) to separate him from his car, should he continue towards me...which he did.
I looked back, got his plate number and rode off. He ran back to his car, got in it and started pursuing me. I made a right turn towards my house, which is where I was going anyways, and he didn't follow me.
So my questions are:
1. I had my weapon with me in my jacket pocket. Would you have drawn your weapon in the situation as described when he first approached?
2. If he had chased me to the end of my street (dead end street) would you have drawn at that time?
I did not draw my weapon, mostly because I believed I had a way out (which it turns out I did) and because there were no witnesses and he could have said I was the aggressor or party to it. I was running scenarios as I rode off and decided if he tried to run me off the road or followed me down the dead end street, I believed I would be justified in drawing (and shooting, if he continued to move towards me in a threatening manner) at that point.
Thoughts?
P.S. I still don't understand why he did what he did as I did not provoke this at all. I figure he was out looking for trouble and I was the "lucky" one that met up with him first.
So...he sped off in front of me for about a mile, stopped at a stop sign, turned right and came to an intersection with a light. I went in the same direction but was far behind him still doing the speed limit. I didn't catch up to him at the stop sign, but I did pull up behind him at the red light.
At the light, he appeared to flip me the bird through his back window. Again, I didn't respond or do anything to escalate the situation, but I now figured something was up with him so I was paying more attention to him. There were 2 vehicles in front of him and I was directly behind him.
The light turned green. The 2 vehicles in front of him went through the intersection and he didn't move. I waited for a fair amount of time (the other vehicles were already though the intersection of a 4 lane road) and then, figuring he was looking for trouble, pulled out to his left and went through the intersection (still a green light). As soon as I passed his car, he jumped on the gas and accelerated beside and past me almost running me off the road. Once he was through the intersection, he pulled over to the shoulder.
I pulled up beside him and he opened his window. The reason I did not just continue riding is because I thought he may chase me in his car and try to run me off the road or hit me.
I said to him "Dude, what is your problem? You almost killed me back there!".
At this point, he opened his door, started approaching me and wanted to fight. He said something like "get off your bike and we'll see how tough you are"...or something like that.
As he approached me, I pulled about 10 feet ahead so a.) he wouldn't knock me off my bike and b.) to separate him from his car, should he continue towards me...which he did.
I looked back, got his plate number and rode off. He ran back to his car, got in it and started pursuing me. I made a right turn towards my house, which is where I was going anyways, and he didn't follow me.
So my questions are:
1. I had my weapon with me in my jacket pocket. Would you have drawn your weapon in the situation as described when he first approached?
2. If he had chased me to the end of my street (dead end street) would you have drawn at that time?
I did not draw my weapon, mostly because I believed I had a way out (which it turns out I did) and because there were no witnesses and he could have said I was the aggressor or party to it. I was running scenarios as I rode off and decided if he tried to run me off the road or followed me down the dead end street, I believed I would be justified in drawing (and shooting, if he continued to move towards me in a threatening manner) at that point.
Thoughts?
P.S. I still don't understand why he did what he did as I did not provoke this at all. I figure he was out looking for trouble and I was the "lucky" one that met up with him first.