I inadvertently cut off another driver in order to avoid another car who was destined to hit me. I figured it would be better to do that then take a hit and deal with car damage, filing a claim, and all that other drudgery.
The guy I cut off was driving a late model Dodge Charger. Muscle-Car options galore. He leaned on his horn and shook his fist at me out his open window. I put my hand up with open palm as an “OK, OK”. But he wasn’t having any of it. At the next light, he gets out of his car and starts walking towards mine. Should I keep my window rolled up and ignore him, or roll it down to have a little “chat?” I kept it up. He came over and rapped on my window while I was looking forward. “Like, WHAT THE F*CK do you think you’re doing, you F*CKING @SSHOLE, you nearly hit my 1 month old car!!” I had to turn and look at him. I said I had to avoid another car almost hitting me, and didn’t he see it? “WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU SAYING??” OK, so I took a chance and cracked the window open an inch.
” Starting with a civil question rather than a hostile uninformed claim goes a long way to avoiding confrontation. I was about to be hit by another car and had to act fast. I’m sorry I cut you off, but your new car braked well and you didn’t hit me. If I didn’t do this, I’d have been hit and then faced a really crapping situation and a lingering headache of having to get my car fixed. So THANK YOU for your understanding.”
“Oh, so take a chance of hitting a brand new car? That was a pretty stupid move!”
Clearly he was still fuming and wanting to vent.
“Again, if I didn’t move, that other car would’ve hit me. So I had a choice — a guaranteed hit, or a possible risk of a hit. I chose the latter, because I instantly saw a rather new well equipped sports car, having to believe the driver, you, would be skillful enough to avoid me.”
“Alright, just f*cking watch it next time.”
And he walked back to his car.