Road rage escalation

[jamieduff1981]

Another road rage story here.

I was on my way home and pulled up at a junction behind a rusty white van. The van door opened and out stepped the driver who walked over to speak to the driver of a Civic Type R through his window. I had my windows up but could hear general disagreement and hand waving.

The van driver walked back towards his van but as he crossed the front of the Honda the driver of the latter (a young male with male passenger) floored it and shovelled the van driver up and over the bonnet and windscreen before speeding off.

I pulled around the van and stopped in front. The guy had a lot of grazing on his forearms and was very sore and badly shaken.

The Civic's registration number was recorded by my wife and we called the police non-emergency number to give some details and now await any call back if they want statements etc.

Any idea what sort of charges the Honda driver might look forward to?

[jamieduff1981]

The thing is the Civic had well and truely gone and the van driver was up and walking. We spoke for a bit to ensure he was ok and I gave him my name and number but decided to call the police too just in case.

I possibly should have called 999 but I'm not sure what difference it really would have made as they'd still need to trace the car?

I'd quite like to see the little knob get a very serious charge.

It's a terrible thing to say but I was a bit annoyed when the van driver got out because he blocked everyone (big queue behind me) through a green light while he argued and tbh we were a bit worried he might be a caravanning enthusiast so didn't want to involve ourselves. The arguement wasn't violent looking and there were no threatening gestures we could see. The Civic driver's decision to run him down was totally unwarranted and completely indefensible - so I decidee to involve myself afterall. Another couple of lads stopped too and also gave details.

[jamieduff1981]

smokeey said:

Patch888 said:

Spineless civic driver, sounds like he had every opportunity to discuss the situation like a man.

Or bully Transit driver finally picked on the wrong little guy and got what he deserved.

We'll probably never know.

I suspect it's a bit of both.

[jamieduff1981]

Matt UK said:

Attempted murder?

I'd have called 999.

Thinking on this, wouldn't you have to prove an intent to kill to make attempted murder stick? As opposed to teach a violent lesson...

I wonder if the worst he'll get is dangerous driving and a short ban?

[jamieduff1981]

Jasandjules said:

Drive Blind said:

you dont know what started it and you dont know what the van driver said. He chose to escalate it.

the civic driver clearly decided he was leaving ASAP.

It could quite easily be this, the civic driver was worried (this is what I expect he would say in any event) about further escalation and the white van man coming back with a wrench or whatever so he got the f**k out of there quickly. An act of necessity..

In this case all the verbal exchange was with the van driver standing to the side of the Civic. If he wanted to simply drive off, he could have. As the van driver walked back to his van he crossed the front of the Civic. The Civic could have waited until the driver was clear then take off. He dumped the clutch and lunged at the van driver when he was directly and centrally in front. I can't think of any reason why his intention was not to run the van driver down. He had opportunities to simply drive off. His timing couldn't have suited a deliberate run down any better.

[jamieduff1981]

soad said:

Caravanning enthusiast aka , right?

Did it have towbar fitted?

I didn't notice any towing equipment at the time but the overall impression was 3.14key ish. Having said that the guy did have a local accent so in hindsight I think he's just not very wealthy. He had one child in the van too.

I reckon in future he may be inclined to let automotive discourtesies slide, having now experienced how quickly they can go from nothing to something very serious.

It *looked* like it was done and dusted as he walked away. My wife and I sat slack-jawed for a moment when the Civic driver rammed him.


The van driver gave away no clues that he knew anything more about the Civic driver.

Edited by jamieduff1981 on Saturday 28th March 21:14

[jamieduff1981]

Rich_W said:

I'm confused

EDIT I've re-read it now. Double lines at the lights :lightbulb:

Difficult to say whose at fault though.

Civic driver will say " in Wagon said he's getting a fking big gun and he's going to kill me"
Transit driver will say he only asked the guy in polite queens English if there was something wrong?

You obviously have no idea what triggered the event. Did the van driver say? Maybe this was something from an earlier exchange hours, weeks or years ago

Not sure if this will work - urban dual carriageway junction but with a 3rd lane as a slip road to turn right. Civic in Lane 2, big queue up slip road and spilling up Lane 2. Van in Lane 1, me behind van with queue behind me.


84 Beach Blvd

http://goo.gl/maps/mrVsm

[jamieduff1981]

Rich_W said:

iva cosworth said:

Rich_W said:

Maybe this was something from an earlier exchange hours, weeks or years ago

Seriously ?

Yeah why not?

Some people hold grudges?

Maybe Transit driver had hit Civic driver in a pub somewhere. Or Civic driver had been knobbing transits daughter.

OP, did the transit driver explain what had happened?

If there was a prequel to today's episode, he kept it well hidden and is a lot smarter than he looked or his decision to waste my time missing green lights while he confronted a hatchback driver would suggest.

He seemed somewhat stunned and surprised. His hands were shaking badly and he told me his name and gave me his mobile number so I could text him my name and the Civic's registration number.

The only part of the exchange prior to being run down that we could hear clearly was the van driver stepping back, holding both arms out his sides and saying "wooooo" loudly - as one might respond in school to a lame threat. What he was responding to I don't know. After that he shook his head and turned to walk back to his van.

[jamieduff1981]

I thought I'd chip in again to advise that the Police have not contacted me about this to date.

[jamieduff1981]

sparkyhx said:

jamieduff1981 said:

I thought I'd chip in again to advise that the Police have not contacted me about this to date.

Interesting - did the van driver know you had the registration? Maybe not made a complaint - Police probably not pursue unless they have a complaint

I didn't want to give the guy my home address in case he was a 3.14quay afterall. I had the XFR-S at that time and we live somewhere remote so I didn't fancy giving a bad'un the address to a nice car where nobody would see anything if it went walkies. Paranoia perhaps but there you go - I was pretty shocked myself and perhaps not entirely objective.

He gave me his mobile number to which I sent him a text message containing my name and the Honda's registration, and I told him I'd give the Police whatever they needed.

He told me he was on his way to meet friends and would call the Police when he got there.

An hour later when I decided to call 101 myself, the operator who took my call said they had already heard of this incident and she said she believed it was the van driver who had made the initial call. She did ask me to briefly describe what happened and describe the hit & run car, which she said matched what they already had recorded.

That was the first and last I've heard from the Police.

Edited by jamieduff1981 on Wednesday 1st April 21:00