It takes balls to walk away = myth propagated by mothers and people who have never been in that situation. It's far harder to initiate violence knowing it might be the last thing you ever do.
The way I see it is, if ton didn't stand up to the guy it would have to be someone else more than likely less able to defend themselves. Left unchallenged bullies like the driver (yes that what he is, not ton as described earlier) will just carry on and be encouraged by their "victories". People who do not stand up to bullies, and I don't mean that you have to be violent, are worse than the bullies themselves. Those that believe that, once they have angered a nutter, they can get on their bike and run away without further consequence or incident are burying their heads in the sand. I spent a few of my formative years "a bit lost" and have been an aggressor on a few occasions. Running away would have made me angrier. The moment of go/nogo decision was just before the w@nker signal. If you start a confrontation and then think "oh no this is a bit scary" and run away then you are as bad as the crap driver in the first place. This has been the 2 penneth according to devs.