Please help me deal with this anger

Jimmy,
I'm sorry that these things have happened to you and your family. Drivers like that do not deserve to have licenses or be on the road. Unfortunately, jerk motorists are an issue cyclists have to deal with. I don't know what to say to you to help you loose your anger. I think the best thing you can do for your son is to encourage him to keep riding his bike. You might also look into a biking class for the both of you. One where the instructors teach handling skills (I'm not saying you need work on your handling skills, or that these incidents were in anyway your or your son's fault.). Taking the class together would be a great father/son bonding experience and help give you son the confidence to ride safely with traffic.
Good luck Jimmy, and keep riding.

I know this is easier said than done, but being angry does you and your son no good. It only adds to the fear and anxiety of the situation. What can you do about immature motorists? I'm not sure there is much you can do. I think the best thing is to put yourself in a position to limit the chances of this happening again. I'm not sure where you live, but perhaps you can ride on less traveled roads or ride at times when there is little or no traffic. Perhaps there are roads where you live that have bike lanes or wide shoulders. I went through the same situation when my wife was learning to ride. We had to take some time and plan our routes carefully. We even went so far as to drive around and scout out routes.

It makes me angry also when I hear about stories like this, but with insensitive lawmakers and law enforcement (in Texas anyway) in regards to cyclists, the best thing you can do is to ride defensively.

Good luck.

This might sound backasswards but, as long as you remain angry, the idiot drivers are winning.  Let it go and be thankful that you and your son did not suffer serious injury or death. 

Be careful man! 

Good luck and have fun in Louisville!

~Mike 

That is disgusting behavior. I'm glad that you son is going to be alright.

I would echo what others have said about channeling your anger to City Hall. You can work on getting protection legislation in your state for cyclists. Colorado just passed the Bike Safety Bill, which (among many other benefits to cyclists) makes throwing anything out off a car at a biker a class 2 misdemeanor and well as making aggressive driving that endangers cyclists a class 2 misdemeanor. http://bicyclecolo.org/page.cfm?PageID=988

I would start calling your local reps. Use CO as an example and tell them what is important to you!

That stinks.  I hope your son is okay.  Pretty scary stuff. 

I like the suggestions for you and he to do a class together.  Again, not that you need the class but it would be good fo him to learn skills and have you supporting him through it.

I do ride some roads that more experienced riders avoid and have had a few close calls with traffic, but nothing like what you and your son have encountered.

I totally agree with the above post...  always assume when riding that drivers don't see you because in a lot of cases they don't.  With  people driving cars talking and texting on cell phones they can easily come upon a cyclist and not even see them... remember our goal on our bikes is to be 'small' and aero... the smaller we are the more invisible we are.

Ride as if you are invisible.. that means you always ride defensively in traffic. 

The bike safety course is a good idea to learn what to do if, as in your son's case, you are intentionally targeted by a driver and run off the road (not saying it was intentional, the driver may have been distracted and actually didn't see him).  Glad your son is relatively OK.  I'd also try to find some bike trails or other safer places to ride.

Its perfectly normal to want to slowly torture and then kill anyone who hurts your kids. It will wear off over time.

Best thing to do is forget it and get back on the bike and be thankful its not serious and make sure your son knows it wasnt personal it was an accident. The person may not have realised they did it - coulda been a granny with bad eyesight swerving to avoid a cataract induced blockage on the road - or a distracted mum reaching back for the kids - it probably wasnt malignant, there are extremely few people in the world who would deliberately wack someone with a wing mirror let alone have the skill to drive precisely so that the win mirror hit you and nothing else. 

Put it down to accident, an experience , and walk away.