Originally Posted by veganbikes

Yes you were viciously assaulted that was at least 28th degree murder except in South Tennechusetts. You better raise Johnny Cochrane from the dead...If the honk doesn't hit you must throw a fit.

For those actually wondering; no it was not assault, it was not a good thing and it could have escalated as many road users are apt to do but not assault. If they physically attack you then that is assault. Honking can be annoying but rarely would it be assault unless you had physical damage from it.

Aggressive driving like that should be reported and certainly if they get physical you should have probably already done something about it. However one should be careful to document what is happening if you do end up defending yourself it is important to make sure you have on record that you were second not the first to get physical and do your best to not look worse than the driver. Unfortunately we live in a very pro-car pro assault culture where victims tend to get blamed and those who assault get away pretty clean.

I tend to find rather than getting aggressive myself it is way more fun to say "I love you too" and blow them a kiss or something silly like that. They tend to hate it because they want you to match them and get to fisticuffs but when you take the wind out of their sails they get more frustrated but generally deescalate a bit because they realize you aren't playing into their game. Now sometimes yeah it is fun to get aggressive and I am not perfect but it is always best to deescalate while also having a little fun yourself