Violent road rage spat ends with flying objects, charges laid
One man caught on dashcam has been charged with assault and mischief to vehicles
A road rage incident captured by a dashcam in North Vancouver on Tuesday evening has led to criminal charges.
In the footage of the incident posted to YouTube two men stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Main Street and Mountain Highway get out of their cars and begin yelling at each other.
By the end it looks like three people doing a strange dance around two cars — until objects are smashed, and flung.
At first one man hits the front of the car on the left, then a woman gets involved.
She heads towards the darker car and opens a backdoor, then a man in a blue sweater approaches the back of her silver car, grabs the windshield wiper, and breaks the rear windshield.
She then throws an object at him — a few times.
The end of the altercation is not captured on video, but according to Cpl. Richard De Jong with North Vancouver RCMP, a bystander interrupted the fight.
"An unknown person came forward carrying something, we're not sure what it is, it could have been a piece of pipe or a stick, and advised them to move on," he said.
De Jong said that footage of the incident was captured from several angles, allowing RCMP to identify the license plate numbers of the vehicles involved.
According to De Jong, RCMP have spoken to all parties involved, and the man seen breaking the rear windshield has been charged with assault and mischief to a vehicle.
"This is rather an extreme case where there was violence after an incident that started blocks away. It's concerning, the people were out in public in a busy roadway, someone could have been pushed into traffic. There are much better ways to handle a dispute on the road than what they demonstrated there," he said.
De Jong offered several pieces of advice for handling a dispute on the road that looks like it may become violent.
"Look the other way — eye contact is always a start where people become more connected to the incident. Stay looking ahead, lock your doors, don't engage in any conversation, and drive away if you can in a safe manner," he said.
De Jong also advised recording the license plate number of any vehicles involved, not driving directly home, and contacting police immediately if you feel your safety is threatened.