I once experienced a strange incident of road rage recently. It involved a motorcyclist. Apparently I was driving too slowly, because the guy on the motorcycle behind me began blinking his light and weaving in and out of traffic behind me to get my attention. Soon, he was able to pass me, on the left, but not without getting a good look in my direction. Then, he zipped in front of me as quick as he could, and once there – he came to a full stop.
I saw his brake lights go on after he pulled in front of me. It all happened in some twilight slow-motion. He stopped, and I hit my hazard lights to alert drivers behind me that I was going to hit my brakes hard unexpectedly. All the while, I tapped my brakes and narrowly avoided hitting this guy. He turned around on his seat, looked right at me, and tapped his helmet. This was if to prove to me that he pulled one over on me. I got his license plate and forwarded the information to the authorities, but it got me to thinking. What if I had, at the last minute, switched lanes too, and let the car behind me rush up to hit this prankster? Would I be liable for any resulting accidents?
If I saw the motorcycle pulling a fast one, and I swerved to avoid hitting him, the car behind me would have plowed into the back of the then stopped motorcycle. Some would say that I might not be responsible for the inattention of the other driver. And some would say that what I was planning to do in my head was unfair to someone traveling behind me. Who is to say? If I leave the area and continue through the light when it turns green, what is to say what happens?
One could say that I might have been liable, since I would have reasonably known that my last minute swerving actions might have resulted in the car behind me then hitting the motorcycle. I was in a position to see that the joke was about to be on me. But not so with the driver behind my vehicle – who would have been completely unaware of what was occurring just a few feet in front of my car.
Often with incidents of road rage, there will be questions about what you could have done differently, or what you wish you had actually thought to have done at the time. Instead of re-hashing these events over and over to yourself, give us a call at Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001, or email us at www.ledgerlaw.com. We will listen to the facts and work to sort out the answers regarding your liability for accidents with motorcycles, or with other vehicles.
