"Sorry, I follow the Pauli exclusion principle religiously, so I'm not sharing the space my car occupies with anyone. "
If you are in a parking lot ... tis true
but on a highway - the "spot" you occupy is a fast moving slot and that slot is subject to preemption by others so you are constantly "negotiating" with others to use it.
How many times do you get "cut off" - that's a warning sign.
You can choose to collaborate with others on the use of that slot or you can attempt to treat it as yours exclusively - at the risk of encountering another driver who approaches the issue the same way as you are - otherwise known as an incident which is a precursor to an accident.
When 3 or more are engaging in the same strategy - and we've all seen this - those with brain cells back off and the issue of who is "right" is irrelevant at that point because if you insist on playing at that level - you probably already have a track record of past "indiscretions" none of which, of course, were your fault but you are well acquainted with the body shop and your insurance company and the court system.
Another way to objectively look at whether you are what you think you are .... or you are a problem ... is to keep track of the number of times you encounter such incidents. If it is a regular thing everytime you encounter congested traffic flow... then it's time to take another look at your own behavior - IMHO.
"Defensive Driving" is not a phrase that describes looking out for things like tire carcbuttes - it means actually driving in such a way that if you or others around you encounter such threats that you actually have a "plan b" alternative AND your goal is to reduce the amount of time that you spend in situations where there is no viable "plan b" alternative - like side-by-side with an 18-wheeler or vehicles overtaking you in the right lane and cutting back in front of you, etc.
