Rush Hour Traffic on E. Johnson

I nearly got killed today riding home from work on E. Johnson St.  The bike lane disappears suddenly and the only option is to merge in to automobile traffic... but as soon as I did that some jerk in a SUV came flying by me within only inches from my handlebars.  I said something to him, like, "Nice driving!" and of course he yelled back something about getting off the road.  This is pretty typical agro/driver behavior as far as I'm concerned, but since I did catch his license plate I turned off on a side street and called the police non-emergency number.  According to State of Wisconsin law, vehicles are required to give 3 feet clearance when passing a bicyclist.   I feel that if they give me less than that, and if I feel it was intentionally unsafe, I'm going to call the cops and hopefully they will follow up with the driver and give them a warning for the future.  If the driver has a pattern of reckless or dangerous driving and end up losing their license, then I think this is exactly what should happen.  Bikers are at best 1/10th the weight and size of a car or truck, and are moving nearly as fast.  Why should drivers not use more caution with bikes?  Why does it seem like they're trying to kill us?