One evening I was headed home through a mall shortcut I take that keeps me away from a large, dangerous intersection. A driver ahead of me and to my right was waiting to pull out into my direction of travel. She saw me, I saw her and thought she would wait. Seeing traffic behind me, she decided to try and beat me which caused a panic stop and a grab of the air horn. I was so furious at nearly being taken out that I pulled alongside her and offered her a piece of my mind. As I looked back to the road I realized I was now in a curve and was heading for the curb. Now I was in a dangerous situation of my own doing. I had to throw my left leg out, lean and steer away from the curb.
I made three critical mistakes: 1) assumed the driver would wait 2) hit the air horn in anger which startled the driver and caused her to brake in front of me and 3) I let my anger divert my attention from my environment.
As motorcyclists we get angry, we’re exposed and vulnerable; but if we let our anger control our actions we often create situations far worse than the one we’re responding to.