True, if the cyclist was fearful of his life then he could have dismounted and walked off somewhere. I've done it myself, shouted at drivers and lost my temper. No excuse to use car as a weapon but could also have been avoided
Or simply slowed or stopped and let the vehicle carry on.
I hit a vehicle door once, a lorry, to let him know I was there as I don't think he saw me and was about to crush me. That drivers reaction was the exact opposite and friendly but I wouldn't expect that as default :-/
I've done it a few times, they simply have no argument to they shouldnt have been close enough for me to touch them - its a simple and difficult argument to counter.
I generally a really loud shout is enough and is my first line of defence.
I do sometimes shake my head a cyclists I see ploughing on into gaps that will always close, hanging around in blind spots and sometimes just doing stuff because "they can" or because "theyre right".
There is an awkward junction on one of my routes home that is traffic light controlled, the left turn is immediately after the stop line.
If you filter up to the front of the queue as a cyclist you cant really get ahead of the first car and there is every change they wont see you and if turning left they'll cut you up, yet I see cyclists doing just that several times a month.
The alternative is to just hold behind the first car, it adds a second to two, if that.
Watching dashcamers on youtube is the same, you can often see the collision coming ages before it comes, quite often the first instict is to voice their anger, indignation or whatever by hitting the horn before hitting the brakes...... Or accelerate into the vanishing gaps/collisions to get good footage.
When driving, cycling or walking I always try to leave a margin and allow for other people to make a mistake. I might tut, chunter or shake my head, but then i carry on.... They made a mistake, I've made plenty, often thanks to the actions of others nothing bad has happened and the world keeps on turning.
For me it is how society rubs along.
Mrs B on the otherhand is calm and lovely, but put her behind a wheel and she's a raging bull ranting about someone who stalled at the lights yesterday.
