Happened to me about a year and a half ago. Guy in front of me at a light. Doesn't move when it goes green. Just as I'm reaching for the horn button, he goes, reaches all of 8 miles an hour. When the double yellow for the intersection clears I make to pass, thinking he's got some kind of engine trouble, and he swerves to block, speeding up a little at the same time. I drop back to give him room, he slows down, eventually stops up ahead. He starts again as I approach slowly, and again reaches all of 8, and is swerving back and forth while I sit behind him, just because he can. I see an opening, gun it and get by, and he comes after me! I keep the twist in my right hand, it's a long straight empty road (we have a lot of those here) and I'm up to 90 when I need brakes for the yield at the end, a 45-degree right into a merge lane. He's there, and merges first behind me and tries to overtake. I gun it and pull in front, then turn left into a crowded restaurant parking lot. (I'm certainly not going to lead him home, right?) He pulls up, gets out and comes at me. I'm like, "C'mon dude. I'm wearing armor, a helmet, and hard gloves!" His buddy gets out of the truck and restrains him, apologizes to me, says his friend is drunk and doesn't know what he's saying or doing.
Drunk???? No ****??? Why the **** is he driving, and why the **** is he trying to kill me? Does he think by passing him that I grabbed his ****** and stole them while I went by? Is he less of a man because I passed him? And why the **** are you riding with him if he's drunk? Do you not value life?
About this time another truck pulls up and blocks the offender's truck in, he was behind the merge and saw that part, and came to offer assistance to me. Just as I'm explaining that all will shortly be good, the cop arrives from my Bluetooth 911 call during the incident. 3 minutes from my call! Awesome.
Why didn't I turn around? I felt that he would turn around and come to me. The road had no cross streets, no way off, narrow wet shoulders with ditches, and the intersection I went for is much easier to negotiate than the one I just came from. (45-degree right with a merge lane vs. 90-degree traffic light crossing a 4-lane road.) And there was a commercial location just past that intersection, a crowd I could use for witnesses, while turning around just led me to a residential area.
The cop took my story, tried to take the other guy's, but all he could say was why he didn't have to take that **** from that piece of **** biker. Credibility fell a bit from that, I think. And the breath smell. Both guys in the truck were taken in, and I hope the passenger pulled out OK. He wasn't drunk, but he certainly didn't help by letting his buddy behind the wheel. Apparently justice didn't need my assistance, as I never heard from anybody that my presence was required anywhere to give testimony.
Nevertheless, seeing him try to stay with me was the most fear I've ever had on the bike. I fully believed the bike was capable of loosing this guy, and had I stayed in it rather than settling for 90, it would have. He stayed there, though, and of course I had no idea of his intentions, thus the 911 call and the dive into witness heaven. I sincerely hope he's in jail, still.
Some people have such a low opinion of themselves that they take personally the slightest imaginary offense and do whatever it takes to set things "right."