You keep saying he was safe, but we can't know whether he really was or not, because history took an optional path- one that stopped a possible attack. It's like saying someone was chasing you on your motorcycle. So, you stopped at a gas station and ran inside. Are you safe? You don't KNOW, until you can look back and say "yea, I jumped off my bike, ran in the gas station, and waited for a while. Went back outside, and the stalker left."
Of course, history might have played out differently, and the story could go "the disgruntled motorist that 7960 cut off in traffic grabbed a tire iron from his trunk, went into the gas station, and beat 7960 to death while the helpless store clerk dialed 9-1-1..."
Which ever course history takes, we can only guess as to the other possible outcome.