This is the shocking moment a road rage motorist throttled a driving instructor after he got out of his car to complain about his ‘dangerous’ overtaking.
Dashcam footage shows Lee Francis, 44, confront the motorist after he swerved in front of him as he drove in a 20mph zone.
The fuming driver then leaned out of his window and grabbed Mr Francis by the throat before he yanked him towards him in Worcester.
A shaken Mr Francis managed to wrestle himself free and returned to his car before calling the police.
Lee Francis, 44, got out of his car to confront the motorist, who was a man ‘in his 50s’ and ended up having his throat grabbed
Despite passing the footage to police – which includes the registration plate of the man’s Citroen – officers said there was ‘insufficient evidence’ and dropped the case.
Mr Francis, who has run a driving school for 13 years, was attacked while on his way to pick up a pupil in his Hyundai i20 at 10am on August 26.
The footage shows a silver Citroen narrowly miss Mr Francis’ car before speeding off along Canterbury Road in the town.
Mr Francis said: ‘It was the middle of the summer holidays, that’s a busy residential area with a lot of children running around, and the speed limit is there for a reason.
‘I was doing bang on the speed limit, and then he came and overtook me as I was going round the bend.
‘Not only could there have been an oncoming vehicle, but there could also have been a child running across the road.
‘I was sat in my car thinking, ‘what’s so good about you that you can overtake me like that, and break the law?’
‘He zoomed off, but to his credit he must have only been doing a maximum of 32mph. But it’s the principle of overtaking me when I was doing the speed limit.
The man leaned out of his window and put both of his hands around Mr Francis’ neck in Worcester
Driving instructor Mr Francis, 44, (pictured) confronted the motorist after he swerved in front of him
‘I’m perfectly used to it, because I have stickers on the car indicating that I am an instructor, and maybe he thought I was a novice driver or something.
‘Eventually he had to stop at the traffic lights, and that was when I decided to get out and say something to him.
‘I just wanted to tell him what the speed limit was. The car window was open at the time, and I told him ‘do you know…’, but before I could finish he interrupted me and said ‘you’ve got two options – walk away, or stay and you’ve got a problem.’
‘After that, I attempted to tell him that it was a 20mph road, but that was when he jumped out the window and grabbed me by the throat.
‘I wasn’t even standing that close to his car, my hands were by my side and I didn’t speak to him in an aggressive manner.
‘When I told him that that was an assault and that I was going to call the police, he told me, ‘I don’t care’.
‘He drove off, but evidently did a loop and came back as I was calling the police. Maybe his passenger – it looked like his brother – saw sense and warned him.
‘The guy, who was probably in his early 50s, then walked over to my car, and opened the doors, only to realise that they were locked.
‘At that stage he went back to his car, and we both sat in our vehicles and waited for the police to come and deal with it.’
He tried to explain to the driver that he had overtaken him while he was doing the speed limit
The driver got out of his car and appeared to start filming Mr Francis after the incident earlier this year
Police officers arrived 15 minutes later but no arrests were made.
Mr Francis, of Worcester, was left stunned when he received an email from police saying they would not be pursuing the case.
He said: ‘When I got the email from the police, I was stunned.
‘I didn’t want it to go to court, because there are much more serious things for them to be dealing with, but I expected him to at least get a slap on the wrist.
‘For them to come back and say there was insufficient evidence really shocks me too. Is there job not to review that evidence and come to a decision?
‘I cannot believe he claimed he was ‘intimidated’ and ‘feared for his life’.. As you can see by the footage, I didn’t touch him and was standing far back from him.
‘I have experience in dealing with those sorts of situations, and was very calm.
‘It’s a very sad state of affairs.’
Superintendent Kevin Purcell, of West Mercia Police, said: ‘I am aware of the incident involving Mr Francis, and I understand his frustration.
‘It’s clear that his complaint must be investigated thoroughly, and I am ensuring that happens.
‘As both this process and the investigation into the incident are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.’