'The van driver definitely won.'
A motorist with a bad case of road rage punched the window of a man’s van – only to get quite the shock when he stepped out.
Dashcam footage captured the moment a white van appeared to pick the wrong lane as it drove down the M58 near Wigan on July 5.
Switching to avoid re-joining the motorway, the video showed a nearby white car swerving to keep its position on the lane only for both to veer into a grassy verge.
Darren Waite watched from his HGV behind them as the car driver burst out of his vehicle and ‘threw punches’ through the van window.
That’s when the van door flung open and the victim stepped out, revealing himself to be a man easily twice the size of the angry driver.
The white man van dealt three punches at his pink-shirt-wearing opponent, sending him to the floor before grabbing onto his legs and kicking.
Darren had to pull the pair apart, pleading for them to swap details and call it a day. In his attempt to be a peacemaker, he even gave the men his number.
Amid the shouting, Darren says a child no older than 10 was in the passenger seat of the car driver’s vehicle loudly crying.
Appearing to cool off slightly, the larger man drove off only for the car driver to deal one final swing at him through the open window.
Darren, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, said he was in no way in the mood to deal with a brawl like that. He just wanted to get home and see his five children.
‘It was shocking to see it because you see this stuff online but you never expect to be right behind it,’ he said.
‘I thought the van had come over to the car but when I watched the video you can see the car veer over quite violently.
Whether it be throwing the finger and cursing or getting violent, more than four in 10 drivers say they have been victimized by road rage-riddled drivers, the road safety charity Brake found.
And this figure is on the rise. In 2022, there were 3,208 incidents of road rage reported to the police, up by 40% from the year before.
Lancashire saw the biggest spike in aggressive driving, shooting up by 198%, according to researchers. West Mercia followed with an increase of 56%.
Why more people are getting angry behind the wheel is unclear, but psychologists say road rage can be down to high stress levels outside the car.
Most of the time, however, it’s bad driving etiquette. Tailgating is top of one survey’s list, accounting for more than a quarter of road rage causes.
Others include being cut off, someone driving slowly, braking too hard, honking, failing to use a turn signal or not letting an ambulance or police car drive past.
‘The bloke in the car just launched straight at the van driver and started throwing punches through the window.
‘The van driver got out so they started fighting and then they ended up rolling around.
‘I work away all week and I just wanted to get home. I couldn’t be bothered to get stuck behind these two so I got out to break it up.
‘The man in the car had a bit of a shock when he saw how big he was. The van driver definitely won.’
Darren says he didn’t report the incident to the police and neither of the men contacted him.
‘It could have ended up worse,’ he added, ‘and someone could have been run over.’
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