Don't cut him off!

I should be thankful, sometimes, for Chinese driving because it provides constant material for the blog and it allows me to be self-righteous.  Be that as it may, people can get killed needlessly by this bad driving which is usually the result of driver ignorance, driver inexperience, and/or driver inconsideration.  I find it hard-to-believe that the Chinese can usually take it all in stride.

So I was surprised, as I rode the bus home Saturday evening, to have a close call because of driver anger.  It started when the bus, I was riding in, got cut off by a truck pulling a long trailer.  The trailer was very long, and it seemed to me that the truck driver didn't realize this.  The bus, which was already in the right turning lane and cut off, had to move closer to the curb to avoid being struck by the trailer -- this meant a jolt for the passengers.

This sort of thing happens a lot -- I remember being cut off, while riding a scooter, by a van.  I was incensed and had revenge fantasies of having been able to get back at the van driver.

So I understood the emotion compelling the bus driver to what he then did to the truck driver.  When the light turned green, the truck and trailer made a wide right turn, and got into the left lane.  The bus, which was following, got into the right lane, and overtook the truck and trailer.  At this point, the bus driver did a fuck-you maneuver.  He swung the bus toward the cab of the truck -- I happened to be sitting on the driver-side of the bus on the seat above the wheel well.  The driver swung the bus within inches of the passenger side of the truck's cab -- if there had been a collision, I would have been right there.  As it was, I cowered in fright as I saw the cab right beside me.  

After the bus swung away, the truck passed the bus and the passenger, in the cab, pointed and glared at the bus driver, who frowned back.

I had never seen a bus driver make a fuck-you maneuver before.