Did you drive this stretch in the '80s? It had some truly desolate sections where there was nuthin - no ramps, no towns, just tumbleweeds. Taking the first highway patrol U-turn was pretty much the only option. This stretch has become more travelled in the last decades and has more services.
Since this is the Pit, we can berate you for not feeding the coyotes, right?
Ironically, I saw this thread 10 min after a woman in front of me drifted into the right lane, so I moved to the left lane to pass her. Then she cranked the wheel without slowing down (or signaling!) to make an almost-up-on-two-wheels U-turn. After barely missing her, I looked back to see her trying to fit in the parking space she’d spotted on the opposite side of the street. I’m still a little shaky, and going to do the rest of my errands on my bike. And maybe stick to sidewalks for a while…
Well, I made up for it with cat attrition to coyote in San Diego.
Yesterday, on two separate occasions, a driver made a dangerous left turn in front of me at a traffic-lighted intersection. The first one was an “oh you stupid fucker!” braking, the second was a stand-on-the-brakes-sheer-terror episode; I missed broadsiding him by mere feet. This guy clearly saw me coming through the intersection and just . . . went.
Similar to your experience, a few months ago an idiot stopped dead in front of me just barely off a freeway off-ramp. I veered off the road and missed her by inches, the guy behind me plowed right into her.
I hope you stayed as a witness to tell the police it was her fault.
On my way back from work once I was behind an idiot who cut across four lanes of traffic, hit a poor woman in the fast lane, then cut back across four lanes of traffic and stopped in the breakdown lane.
I heard him tell the cop she hit him. I told the cop hell no.
His lawyer or insurance company called me about it later, I think trying to get evidence that he wasn’t at fault. I would have loved to testify against him, but they got the message.
I most certainly did!