Intersecting Intentions

I’m stopped at a three-way intersection, waiting for a break in traffic to turn right. I realize the car stopped behind me is really, really close to my back bumper. I’ve never seen two cars so close together.

I’ve got a little room in front of me, so I inch forward. The car behind me inches forward, too. I do it again. The car inches forward until he’s so close to my bumper an ant could jump across. I can’t move any further forward.

Finally, traffic on the intersecting street clears, so I turn right. The car behind me comes along, still riding my bumper. I’m freaked at this point, and pissed at how reckless this guy is being. So, I passive-aggressively slow to a crawl to make it easier for this guy to drive around me, since he so clearly wants to. It’s a 35 mph road and I’m going about 15. The car behind me zigzags to the left and right, clearly wanting to pass me, but it’s a two-lane road and there’s oncoming traffic. After a couple cars pass in the opposite lane, he zips around me and goes speeding off at 50, maybe 60 mph… all of six hundred yards to the next intersection.