i'm just glad it wasnt some kind of venomous snake...it would've been alot more nerve-wracking & harder, i think, to get the thing to get off the road while trying to keep from getting bit at the same time. :
with that rat snake though, once i was sure it wasnt venomous, i just touched it's tail with my shoe & it coiled up, spun around & faced me, sized me up for a minute then decided to book it, lol.
although we know the snake had no idea the fate it almost met that day, we are both glad that we were able to be the ones to come across it & send it off to safety (at the cost of a tire), rather then someone else.
being from california though, the only wild snakes i'd ever seen were rattlers & kings but upon moving here i took the time to visually educate myself (& my 10 yr old daughter) via computer of the snakes local to this state/area.