Rural Road Rage

Was he trying to kill me? Sure seemed that way to me. Normally I give people the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was just messin' with me. But if that's all he was doing, why did he come so close to killing me?

I was driving east on Highway 126, a beautiful stretch of road running alongside Fern Ridge Reservoir. Traffic was light. I pulled out to pass the slow moving sedan in front of me and as I drew alongside, he increased his speed to match mine. Hey, no problem dude, except that there's suddenly a car in the oncoming lane closing fast. Things were getting more dangerous by the millisecond. I started to hit the accelerator hard to move past the sedan but realized that of my two options, my prospects for a head-on collision accompanied by a swift death were much greater that way. So I began to brake in an effort to slip behind my chicken-playing friend in the white sedan. That game is a lot less scary if you're not the one in the oncoming lane.

Just then, Mr. White Sedan figured that he could add to the excitement of the moment by slowing down with me, pinning me in the oncoming lane. Thank goodness I just had my brakes relined. At the last possible moment, I hit them harder than my next-lane-neighbor expected and I managed to slip behind him just before the oncoming car had a tough decision of his own to make.

How do you react to something like that? One minute, you're cruising down the road listening to Jackson Browne, the next, you see your life flash before your eyes. I decided to call 911 and to follow the sedan from a safe distance. Mr. White Sedan had other ideas.

He took the next left, a backwoods road he seemed to know well. I pursued, cell phone in hand. Oddly, his license plate started with the three letters WMD. How fitting. Not wanting to make nice, Mr. White Sedan flew the coop, pulling away at speeds in excess of 100 mph. I lost him at the first intersection.

The police tried to find him but my description left a lot to be desired---a white car of unknown make with a driver I couldn't identify and no license plate other than WMD. And since I didn't actually die, or even have an accident, this incident wasn't aggravated enough to qualify Mr. White Sedan for America's Most Wanted. I understand that. But I'll never understand him, or people like him.

Over the last couple weeks, I've been working on a new song called "Accidental Bastard". I'll tell you more about this tune in a week or two. Mr. White Sedan is not that kind of bastard. Enjoy your weekend. Drive safely.