The New Brunswick driver caught on video in the midst of a road rage tirade is sorry and realizes he overreacted, his father says.
On Sunday night, Fredericton resident Iain MacDonald posted on Facebook that he had been the victim of road rage. He included a video of the last few minutes of the incident from earlier in the day, which shows another driver pulling in front of MacDonald, slamming on his brakes and then backing up.
MacDonald tries to back up too, but eventually the other driver blocks the road, gets out of the car, walks over to the driver side window and begins to yell at MacDonald, accusing him of cutting him off.
MacDonald refuses to engage in an argument, and the man eventually walks away.
While the video is short, MacDonald says the entire incident began several minutes before. In his Facebook post, he says the other driver blocked the road once before to get out and scream at him and punch his car.
Fellow friends on Facebook said they recognized the other driver, and noted his father ran a local business.
While the father wouldn’t appear on camera, he spoke to CTV News. He said his son acknowledged his response was an overreaction and out of line. He also said his son would be seeking professional help with anger issues.
MacDonald's video, which his son Kaleb shot while sitting in the passenger seat, has been widely shared and has amassed more than 570,000 views. MacDonald's says even he is shocked by how much attention it has received.
“When you post to your Facebook page, it’s not a viral video. It’s just a Facebook post, along with all the other mundane things that happen to you during the day. It’s public opinion that makes it viral,” he said.
MacDonald says he avoided a confrontation with the man because his sons were in the vehicle with him.
“We’ll be glad when someday our kids are in a situation where they’re being bullied or they’re being harassed and they can take a lesson from what we did and just stay calm and diffuse the situation,” he says.
Fredericton Police are now looking into the incident. Police spokesperson Alycia Morehouse says the department is collecting statements for now.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Andy Campbell
