The dangers of going to shows...(road rage)

[CHoaglin at aol.com]

I always thought that the biggest risk of going to shows was getting in a bar 
fight...turns out it's the drive home...

See below...this actually happened to me last night..

This gives new meaning to that old Ramones song , "cabbies on crack"..

Last night, I was coming home from a show in boston (Biohazard, with Anthrax 
and Slipknot). After going under an overpass, I signaled and shifted into the 
left lane to pass a taxi cab. Their sign was lit, so I assume they didn't 
have a fare..If they did, the fare got the ride of their life...

As I passed the cab, the driver swerved into my lane, sideswiping my car 
(1995 Subaru Legacy wagon). He almost ran me off the road in the process. I 
didn't stop, since the road we were on is NOT safe to pull over on, and well, 
it was 12:30 am in Boston (not the nicest time to have an argument with 
another motorist). I was going to stop when I got to a safer place to pull 
over, but abandoned the  idea of pulling over after the cab started 
tailgating me and swerving around behind me. I kept driving at a normal speed 
until I reached interstate 93, then merged onto the highway to try to get 
away from the cabbie. What happened next is like something out of "world's 
scariest police chases"

The cab followed....I started to accelerate, and he kept right on my ass, 
even when I hit 90mph. At that point I decided I really had to lose the 
cab..so I floored the gas...I hit about 112mph, and stayed at that speed for 
about 5 or 10 minutes, and gained a bit of a lead on the cab. At that point, 
I decided to get off the interstate, so I hit the brakes and went flying onto 
an exit ramp doing at least 65..Unfortunately, the cabbie saw me take the 
ramp, and followed in pursuit. I saw him coming onto the ramp, so I took off 
down a road that crosses the interstate...He floored it and tried t get on my 
tail again, so hit the gas and took off like a shot. I was doing about 75 in 
a 25 zone..I saw a curve ahead, so I slammed on the brakes. I went into a 
skid doing about 50, but managed to pull out of it (my car was heavily loaded 
with electronic gear, so I had a bit of traction). I pulled into a parking 
lot and stopped, with my headlights off..The cabbie almost went by, but saw 
me in the parking lot. He stopped and started to back up, at which point I 
hit the gas and went flying down a side street. The street turned out to be a 
dead end, so I pulled in to the end of the street and cut my lights. He 
couldn't figure out where I went, and my guess is he went back the way he 
came, thinking I'd doubled back. After a couple minutes of sitting in my car 
waiting with a baseball bat, I pulled out onto the main road and found my way 
home..I finally got home around 2AM. All told, the cabbie chased me for about 
25 miles...What a night..I bet the cabbie had some explaining to do for why 
he had all those extra miles and no fares..

Believe it or not, I've never gotten a speeding ticket or been in any 
accident resulting worse than tapping some guy's bumper...

Chris