While riding in Cincinnati last week, I was coming up to a line of stopped cars.  As usual, I took the lane to make sure no one tried to pass me and, without room to actually do it, caused an accident.  For the first time ever, the driver behind me decided this wasn't good enough for him and that he was going to pass anyway.  So here we are, almost stopped now, 2-3 car-lengths between me and the vehicle in front of me, and the driver behind me guns his engine and flies into the oncoming lane, cuts back in front of me, realizes the next car ahead is no longer moving, and screeches to a halt.  At this point I had stopped moving to avoid the shrapnel that I expected from the collision that seemed imminent.  Fortunately for everyone, the aggressive passer was able to stop with just inches to spare, and everyone went home safely.

We're all familiar with the drivers that think the fact that they are approaching a slow-moving vehicle, in this case a bicycle, gives them a break from the laws about driving on the right and safe passing and nearly run oncoming traffic off the road in order to pass.  Well, yesterday on the way home from work on Trabue (2 lanes, 45 mph limit), that exact situation happened.  The difference, though, is that there were two cars trying to pass.  Instead of waiting for the first to pass and then passing me himself, the second driver drafted off of the first vehicle the entire way around me.  Then when the first vehicle was safely back in my lane, the second driver STAYED in the oncoming lane, passing the first car that had just passed me.  After forcing an oncoming car off the road, this dangerous passer finally got to his intended destination, a left turn lane.  Apparently it was too much effort to move back into the correct lane before his left turn.  I guess those other cars will just have to get out his way.