It’s not often I feel the red mist come over me, and I like to think I’m a careful considerate driver, but I did get caught out yesterday. (Don’t get me started on queue jumpers when two lanes merge into one though!)

While driving home from work last night, one minute I was on the last roundabout in the slog out of Norwich starting to accelerate for the exit, the next thing I knew I had my foot hard on the brake to the point that the ABS cut in as a stupid tw*t had pulled onto the roundabout infront of me from the park-and-ride. How I missed making a big Discovery sized dent in his drivers door I don’t know.

So there I am, stopped in the middle of the exit of the roundabout with him (or her?) speeding off into the distance and it starts to rise within me. It’s too late to honk or flash, but I can’t let it go! So it’s foot to the floor, hard acceleration until I’m right up behind him a half mile or so up the road and we’re doing well over the 50mph speed limit. Now what do I do?

How tempting was it to gesticulate (pointless in the dark), hoot, flash, or even try and overtake so I could make some signal of my dissapproval as I passed? Or I could just sit on his bumper for a bit and wind him up.

But I took a deep breath, eased my foot off the loud pedal, and allowed a sensible safe gap to open up between ourselves while I calmed down. After all, I’d survived with no harm; it was his fault and I think I’d made my point. I could get no benefit from pushing it further and was likely to have a real shunt. Boringly sensible I know but there we are.

So I settle back into my autopilot groove, but he’s still there in front of me, and as we pull into Wroxham he’s a few feet off my bonnet again. Is he going to pull into the garage - if so should I ‘have words’? He keeps going. Doesn’t turn off to Salhouse, Coltishall, Horning, Neatishead or Smallburgh - another 5 miles on he’s still there in front of me. Does he know I’m still back here, still mildy peeved? Is he panicing?

Then we get to Stepping Stone Lane where I will turn off, and he turns off. At the end where I will turn left he turns left. He’s going to think I’m following him!

In my head I can radio interview (’PM’ is on Radio 4) where the road rage victim says ‘he just kept chasing me until we got to a quiet stretch then drove me off the road - he was a madman - I’m lucky to be alive‘. It’s lucky I’m not a violent person because I can see how it happens, and it was very tempting.

Anyway, it was a hard descision not to follow him as he turned off to Happisburgh but I think I’d had my fun.

A bit of advice to people who do silly things like pull out in front of oncoming vehicles - don’t do it to a Landrover - it’ll hurt you more than it wil hurt them!