re how to act in front of traffic jerks in article nielsmm nanna imv aau dk nielsmm imv aau dk niels mikkel michelsen writes the other day it was raining cats and dogs therefor i was going only to the speed limit on nothing more on my bike this guy in his bmw was driving meters behind me for meters and at the next red light i calmly put the bike on its leg walked back to this car he rolled down the window and i told him he was a total idiot and the reason why did i do the right thing well i used to get mad and either try to communicate my anger to jerks or to uhm educate them in how to improve their manners in traffic now i just try to get them off my tail in heavy traffic i slow down a bit mostly so i have more buffer zone in front to balance the minimal buffer behind but i also often find that the jerk behind will notice traffic moving faster in other lanes switch into one of them and pass me which is fine because then i can keep a better eye on the jerk from behind while looking ahead rather than from in front while splitting my attention between ahead and the mirrors in traffic so heavy that there is no way for the jerk to pass i might pull over as if to look for a street number or name still ignoring the jerk just to get the jerk off my tail if this all sounds well wimpy or un denizenly or pessimistic or perhaps for any psych types passive aggressive consider that i prefer to get my adrenaline jollies from riding rather than from yelling at jerks a ride can improve my whole day while yelling at a jerk is likely for me to ruin my ride or my day with my own anger in the worst case yelling at the jerk could ruin my life since even a tiny jerk in a cage behind me is better armed with the cage than i am on a bike on the other hand you might try subtly arranging to be the last vehicle to legally cross one or more intersections leaving the jerk waiting for cross traffic and thus off your tail or crossing illegally hopefully in front of the waiting police like almost everything here your choices and mileage will vary denis mckeon galway chtm eece unm edu
