One in five drivers likely to have been a victim

The term ‘road rage’ originated in the United States in the late 1980s when a rash of freeway shootings occurred in Los Angeles.

In the 1990s it became noticeable in the UK.

A major annual report by the RAC, Report on Motoring 2008: Twenty Years of Motoring, revealed that aggressive driving was one of the biggest changes to happen to motoring over the last 20 years, ahead of congestion, roadworks and speed cameras.

In 2015 a study found that 81% of drivers in the UK have been victims of road rage at some point.

The figures were from research undertaken by comparison site Carwow, which showed that in nearly half of road rage cases, angry motorists followed drivers aggressively.

Not only that, but 5% of victims reported that they had been physically attacked by other motorists, while 4% said that their car had been damaged as a direct result of road rage.

Police have said that categorising road rage can be a problem, with most forces agreeing that they didn’t officially record it as a criminal offence, meaning, in reality, the figures could be much higher.