Dash cam captures three vehicles involved in road rage incident

Dash cam captures road rage incident London man captures video of three vehicles involved in road rage incident

It was a case of road rage that a London man says could have quickly turned tragic.

Three vehicles were involved in the incident which took place around 6pm on Sunday, on the stretch of Highbury Avenue North that goes from Hamilton Road to the 401.

Nick Groulx was heading south on Highbury to meet up with friends to fly drones. He captured the entire episode on dash cam, including a couple of close calls, "Yeah, there was some madness going on there."

Groulx says it started with an SUV sitting in the left lane, going slightly under the posted 100 kilometer an hour speed limit, "The guy behind him just wasn't having it. He was maybe about a foot away from his bumper."

Groulx says that’s when the driver of the SUV decided to send a message, "He tapped his breaks. The guy behind him wasn't happy. He stayed on his bumper. (The SUV driver) tapped his breaks again. Yeah, then he took off beside him, cut him off. I don't know what he was thinking."

Groulx’s video shows a silver sedan pulling along the right side of the SUV and veering towards it. The SUV swerves left onto the gravel along the wide ditch the divides southbound and northbound traffic.

At that point Groulx pulled ahead to get the drivers licence number of the sedan, and that’s when events took another turn.

Groulx was quickly overtaken by a pick-up driven by someone who apparently witnessed what happened and was intent on sending a message of his own. “The truck comes flying up beside me and I'm like, 'What the heck?' And he just cuts (the sedan) right off. And I was just like, 'Wow!'"

The pick-up and the silver sedan take part in some high-speed sparring, with the truck at one point using a right exit lane to pass another vehicle to pull ahead and impede the sedan. And then the sedan uses the same manoeuvre.

What ultimately diffused the on-road confrontation was the fact that the drivers were heading in separate directions, with the truck taking an exit onto the 401.

Still authorities are concerned about the state of mind of those drivers to be involved in something like this in the first place.

London Police issued a statement with four information points:

1) Do not react to aggressive drivers. If a driver cuts you off, tailgates, or drives aggressively, you may be inclined to honk your horn, gesture to the driver or otherwise engage with him/her. It is best to ignore the situation entirely and provide information to police.

2) Avoid escalation. If the other driver yells at you, or gestures rudely out the window, do not shout or gesture back. An angry person cannot be in an altercation if another is not willing to join in. Keep your cool and carry on.

3) Get out of the way. Put your turn signal on, and move over as soon as it is safe to do so to allow the other vehicle to pass. Put as much distance as possible between your vehicle and the other driver’s vehicle to disengage.

4) Attempt to gain any vehicle information. If you are able, get the driver’s license plate number, make, and model and colour of the vehicle in case the situation escalates and there is damage to your vehicle.

Groulx has his own recommendation, "Just calm down. Let everybody get where they're supposed to be going."