Quote Originally Posted by Eden View Post
If there is a shoulder it isn't illegal for you as a bicycle to pass on the right, even if it is not a marked bike lane, but it is considered to be questionable etiquette. (and it can be dangerous... if you come up on someone's right and they aren't looking for you, you can easily get right hooked) If it is just a stop sign I generally just get in line and wait (and I expect my space to be honored too - so no pulling up beside me thank you very much), but if it is constant heavy traffic I will happily pass.

In any case what you may have done or not done is totally irrelevant. Even if you had done something patently illegal, she had no right to try to hurt you.

IMHO, that wasn't just near assault - it was assault. You don't have to be successful for an assault to occur - pretty much you just have to threaten, so trying to hit someone with a baseball bat is just as chargeable as actually doing it. Unfortunately you can get away with many things if you are driving a car that you would never be able to do in other situations.
That is true. I think cars and cyclists generally need to make their own safety calls when passing. I'm a cautious rider and I try to avoid dangerous maneuvers especially in high traffic areas. I do all the recommended things, like be predictable, etc. Like I said, I was in the shoulder when I was passing and I moved up to an area where there was actually an indent for buses because I thought that was safer than being in the shoulder at the back of the line (because cars generally do get next to you when you're in the shoulder). The cars were not moving when I was passing them. I also made it a point to stop passing cars when I could see the cars in front of me started moving forward and I would get stuck either on their side or tail end where they couldn't see me. I stopped when I was in front of this silver car because I felt my visibility to her was best. She didn't have her turn signal on and I was off to the side, so I was in no way impeding her movement, which is why I don't get her reaction. I think it's probably obvious that she is just another driver who doesn't think bikes should be on the road because it slows her down and she decided to take it out on me. When in actuality if I was in a car instead I would be slowing her down even more! But most people that react this way generally aren't smart enough to put two and two together anyways!

Anyways, thanks everyone for your support.

-Jessica