This is the dramatic moment a van driver was saved from a violent clash with a road rage motorist by his dashcam. 

A 30-second clip captures the terrifying moment the two drivers almost came to blows. 

The bust-up starts when the van driver overtakes the grey Vauxhall Vectra and cuts him up as they drive up a hill at 30mph close to Northampton town centre. 

This enrages the Vectra driver, who accelerates and drives across the front of the van, causing a small collision. 



The Vauxhall driver, wearing a baseball cap, then dashes from his vehicle and goes to attack the vandriver, banging the door of his van so hard the whole vehicle shakes. 

A woman travelling with him in the Vectra then gets out and warns him that the incident is being filmed on a dashcam visible through the front window. 

It prompts the road rage motorist to calm down - and a violent bust-up is averted. 

The incident was captured on the dashcam camera in May and has now been released by SmartWitness, the UK's leading vehicle CCTV supplier. 

It comes after new figures were released showing a sharp rise in road rage incidents, with forces such as Devon & Cornwall Police seeing incidents double in two years. 

Surveys show Britain has the highest incidence of road rage in Europe and 56 per cent of drivers said they have experienced it - with tailgating the most likely cause. 

SmartWitness CEO Paul Singh said: "This new footage shows how a camera can be your greatest friend following a road rage incident. 

"It is amazing what a calming effect a running camera can have on a road rage driver intent on revenge. 

"In this incident, the Vectra driver is alerted to the camera by a female passenger and he calms down after he had previously tried to break into the van's cab. 

"Clearly the van should not have overtaken the Vectra and cut him up on such a busy town centre road. 

"But that still does not excuse the violent reaction from the Vectra driver. 

"Thankfully nothing more came of this incident but it does show the value of having a dashcam."