Road rage becoming commonplace

Nearly half of motorists have been victims of, or have witnessed, "road rage", according to a new survey conducted by the Cornhill insurance company. Of the more than 1,000 people surveyed, more than one in three men and one in four women said they had been victims of some act of aggression from a road user.

The most common form of aggression shown was verbal abuse, followed by hand gestures and intimidatory driving. Thirteen people taking part in the survey reported physical attacks and 24 said their vehicles had been attacked.

"This type of behaviour can cause accidents which need never have taken place, and inevitably leads to higher insurance costs," said Denis Loretto, general manager of Cornhill. "Everyone using the public highway should be concerned at the scale and frequency of aggressive behaviour on our roads."