Three Feet

Yesterday, i'm riding south on 20th Ave S, my normal bike route to the south. I cross Yesler on a green light and it's 3 blocks of residential street, next to Pratt Park, to the light at Jackson. This is NOT an arterial, that's why i'm riding it. Maximum allowable speed is 25 mph. With a park along the west side and another playground one block to the east, kids running in the street is a common occurrence.

I see ahead of me a large white American car has stopped in the street, appears to be letting out or picking up a passenger connected with the park. The proper and legal thing for me to do is to move left:  i look behind me and start to signal but the blue SUV is coming way too fast, 35+ mph, so even though it's my right of way, i cower right for a moment while it passes me and then passes the white car.

Once it has passed me, i shoulder check, signal, shoulder check and move left. A small red car comes out of nowhere, scares the crap out of me because it is aiming right at me as i move left. It's moving very fast, certainly above the speed limit. It actually looks like it is going to try to pass me despite the fact that i am already in the left lane in the process of passing the stopped car. But that would be crazy.  (and illegal) I stick out my arm and make a 'stop' sign.

The car keeps coming. It actually squeezes past me while i'm passing, a staggeringly dangerous maneuver, not to mention extremely rude. Oh and it's illegal, but i know motorists rarely pay the slightest attention to such things. It turns out the little red car is electric, and silent. With environmental bumper stickers on it no less. As this nutcase hurriedly squeezes passed me i just hold on with both hands. I try to slow down enough to get out of the way of this extremely aggressive driver. 

Once she is past me she has to slow almost to a stop, of course, because of the blue SUV in front of her. If she had been paying any attention at all to driving, she would have known that.  But it was much more important to illegally squeeze past me.  I have to grab the brakes to keep from impact. I look at her in the rear view mirror and get a quizzical look on my face and stick both arms out, palms flat, as if to say: 'What was that?' I was pleased that i have gotten over the standard tendency to use a nasty gesture at that point. I didn't say a word.

She leaned out of the window and started yelling hysterically: "I gave you three feet! I gave you three feet!" She drove the entire next block to the next light, leaning out the window screaming "I gave you three feet!". Of course at the next block there was a red light and i stood behind her for the entire light while she screamed. I didn't say a word. I hoped that just the fact that i was behind her would demonstrate that her aggression, speed, illegality, and rage didn't even save her 1 second. But i doubt she noticed.

She just kept shrieking, "I gave you three feet!" Apparently this very sick person thinks that a sketchy bike club's silly bumper sticker is more important than... i don't know. The LAW. Or common sense. Or even just friendliness.