On my way home from work, I have to ride through a fairly gnarly 3 highway merge. All three highways crisscross at this point, and all three are together for about 300 yards, give or take, and all three cross each other (one enters all the way on the right, and finishes up all the way on the left, and just to keep things interesting, there is a service road thrown in at the end). I enter the merge from the left and need to exit in the middle. In any event when the traffic is moderate it gets a little nerve wracking, when traffic is heavy it can be pretty darn exciting. Tonight the traffic was on the heavy side of moderate, and it was raining. I entered the merge, and immediately moved to the middle, as it was clear. There was an older woman driving a Cadillac behind me prior to the merge, and when I moved over she started to come up on my left. A younger guy, probably 18 or 19, in a Chevy Malibu was entering the merge on my right. Finally, when I checked my mirror, the guy behind me is riding pretty close. I figured that one or both of these folks was going to try to merge in front of me. Well, we get close to the point where everyone needs to make their final decisions, and the woman in the Caddy drifts right as she sets up to take the left hand ramp, and at pretty much the same time, the kid in the Chevy decides that he has absolutely got to be in my lane RIGHT NOW. As soon as I saw the guy behind me tailgating, I did the math and decided that my only exit strategy was the throttle, but just as I started to roll on it, the Caddy drifted and the Chevy started to dive into my lane. HOLY $*&@! I leaned on the horn and started praying, I literally had no where to go! Between getting boxed in from the sides, the rain limiting traction for any kind of swerving maneuver, not to mention all that vinyl paint on the road for the merge, and the fact that any hard braking on my part, and the guy behind me would slide and make me a hood ornament. I had no choice but to go straight and pray that one of these 3 morons would realize their error and give me an out. The Stebel got the Caddy drivers attention for sure, and the combination of the horn and me literally banging on the Chevy's driver side window (yes, he got that effing close!) got the kid's attention, both enough to give me just enough room to hit the throttle and squeak by.

I am a pretty mellow guy for the most part, and with all the crazies on the road, I usually just practice diligent avoidance when it comes to driving the bike. If it gets hairy, my philosophy is get the plate number and deal with it later through the local boys in blue. However, I have to say, tonight if I actually got that kid to pull over (and I really tried), I think I would have been the one having to deal with the boys in blue! I haven't been that angry in a long, long time! WTF goes through people's head! The kid never checked his left, maybe he glanced in the mirror, I doubt it. The woman in the Caddy made the turn on the left ramp like she was driving a piggy back tractor trailer instead of a car. Last, but by no means least, the guy behind me decided that tailgating a bike on a crowded highway merge, in the rain no less, was the right way to go. In this particular instance, not a single one was talking on a cell phone. This was just a case of three really bad drivers converging on one spot at the exact time that I happened to be passing through. I think the deer are more predictable than some drivers!!!!

All I can say is, I must have had an angel on my shoulder tonight. Be careful, THEY are out there for sure!

Glad to hear everything turned out much better that it was looking!:smiley_th You gave me yet another good reason to make my purchase of a Stebel Nautilus Horn.

The Stebel is great! I highly recommend it. You really get noticed.

I'm thanking God for providing an out to your situation, bro. That you were able to keep control in the rain while all this was happening so close around you, wow!! Whlie both the old lady in the caddy and the kid in the Malibu were being bad drivers for sure, but what in god's name possesses anyone to tailgate a motorcycle in the rain, especially at highway speeds and in a merge situation??? Perhaps the other two didn't see you for whatever reason, but the imbicile behind you must have seen you. If not for that, you could have practiced your diligent avoidance and gotten out of that situation much more safely.

Glad to hear that you were on top of your game and everything turned out ok. Sometimes I think that the only way some drivers will improve and pay attention out there on the road is to actually harm another driver/rider. Sad very sad.

Peace :beerchug: