How I nearly got Tom Brady'd

Friday afternoon at about 6:15 PM, just past the intersection with Warren St on the outbound side of Commonwealth Ave, a woman driving a green Volvo station wagon struck and nearly ran over a 49cc scooter driver...me.

I was driving home from work this evening on Commonwealth Ave. I waited near the front of the line at Warren St for the light to change. As it went green and we started moving, I crossed over the Green Line Tracks and noticed a green car coming from the carriage lane onto the main lanes (as many people do at that intersection instead of continuing on the carriage road up past Summit to Washington). Most people recognize that they are merging into another lane of traffic and stop or slow to come into the main road just past where the T tracks switch from the side of Comm Ave to the center of the road.

This green Volvo station wagon didn't and before I knew it, she had hit my right elbow and rear view mirror with her driver side mirror hard enough to cause it to fold inward while I hit my horn and edged left in the lane as far as I could without hitting the car in the left lane at the time! I found myself between the two cars and less than an inch from her knocking me over on my right side until she finally stopped enough for me to pass her as I'd come even with her driver's window at that point. I was able to look in and see her bright pink phone (smartphone?) in one of her hands!

When we reached the red light at Washington St, she was in the left lane and I was able to pull even with her in the right lane where I'd remained. I yelled through her window, "What the fuck?!?".

She put her window down and said that I had come over into her and hit her! Astounded, I yelled at her that there were TWO lanes on Comm Ave and I was in the right one. I pointed at the carriage lane where we were at and said, "You came from over THERE and merged into ME!!".

Her defense: "I'm bigger than you are." And I was floored that she'd say something that stupid! I didn't know what to say. I grabbed my gut and said, "No, I'm bigger than YOU!". She responded, "Oh, really?", and continued, "I have a car!".

My brain was going a mile a minute at that point. I wanted to say "What is this? Boston Harbor?? I have to give way in my boat to your yacht??". I just yelled back, "What are you talking about?!?".

The light changed and she started to put up her window and drive forward (still with her pink phone in her hand!). I managed to yell at her, "Learn the rules of the road, you dumb bastard!", and drove forward too.

As we passed Washington St, there was an MBTA SUV in the left lane following a train on the B Line and it came to a stop. The people in front of her had already moved over into my lane, but I was able to pull up behind the last one and block her from coming over too. As I passed her stuck in the left lane, I gave her the finger and kept driving. I lost her in my rear view mirror cresting the hill before turning towards home from there.

This was just a surreal experience. I was so baffled by her "I'm bigger than you" comment that I didn't even think to get her plate or suggest we stop and let an officer tell her that she was wrong to run me over like that. I guess I was also just glad the situation didn't go any further south through some defensive driving on my part and a little bit of luck. This prevalent attitude that "bigger = right-of-way" has to stop though. She was completely in the wrong here and wasn't willing to apologize or even consider that she might have been wrong in the situation that almost wiped me out with multiple cars all around.

Well, if your 40-50 year old blond female friend who drives a newer green Volvo SUV with beige interior and a black pet barrier for her trunk (and it might have a scratch on the front of the driver's side mirror) tells you about how she almost killed a guy on a scooter Friday evening, feel free to point her to this story. I'd love to here what other pontifications she might have on how cars don't have to obey the traffic laws because they're bigger than scooters, bikes, pedestrians...