Revved-up drivers clash in violent road rage incidents
These are some of the most extreme examples of tensions erupting between angry drivers, including a bizarre incident involving Rex Hunt and a garden fork.
Police & Courts
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Whether it be flipping the bird or swearing at other drivers, many Victorians would admit to getting revved up behind the wheel from time to time.
An insurer survey last year revealed nearly half of all Australians admitted showing signs of road rage towards others motorists in the previous 12 months.
The 2021 Budget Direct study also found three in four Victorian road users were subject to swearing or on the receiving end of a rude gesture from another motorist.
Worryingly, more than six per cent of Victorian respondents said they had been intentionally hurt or been threatened with violence from another road user.
When road rage incidents extend beyond slight grievances into serious confrontations, the results — and consequences — can be devastating.
From hammer attacks to running down e-scooter riders, the Herald Sun has covered many of Victoria’s most terrifying road rage incidents.
Rex Hunt
Legendary AFL player and broadcaster Rex Hunt was last month caught on camera wielding a garden fork in a disturbing road rage incident in Beaumaris.
Nine News reported the 73-year-old was involved in a “minor bingle” which quickly turned violent.
Both drivers got out of their cars before the other man threw a punch at Hunt.
Dashcam footage from another driver captured Hunt retrieving a garden fork from his car before repeatedly asking his assailant: “You wanna die?”
Things cooled down after Hunt returned to his vehicle and reportedly did several laps of the block where the incident occurred.
No police report was made but Hunt told the Herald Sun he was unrepentant for his actions.
“He was tailgating me along Reserve Rd before running into the back of my towbar.
“Would you put up with that? I haven’t made a complaint to the police and as far as I know they haven’t received one,” Hunt said.
The veteran commentator is no stranger to controversy after he was found guilty of recklessly causing injury during a road rage incident at Elwood in 2009.
Hunt was found to be the aggressor in that confrontation which left a cyclist with a broken finger.
Edward von Moger
Disturbing footage emerged earlier this month of a man repeatedly smashing a motorist’s car window with a boomerang during a wild road rage incident.
The viral videos shows the man — identified as Edward von Moger, the younger brother of troubled Geelong bodybuilder Calum von Moger — headbutting and then smashing the car’s side-view mirror with a boomerang before it snaps.
“Broke my f---ing boomerang,” Edward says in the clip.
He then uses his hand to smash the driver’s side window before accusing the motorist and passenger, who is filming the confrontation, of being “idiots” for taking “the vaccine”.
“You’ve both got the vaccine and it’s cost a life,” he said.
“Leave me alone,” the driver tells Edward as he abruptly walks away.
Edward’s partner told news.com.au it was an old video and he was suffering mental health issues at the time.
The bodybuilder will front Geelong Magistrates’ Court on September 9 over the incident.
Umit Gorgulu
An enraged Portland man who set his best mate on fire during a shocking road rage incident was last month sentenced to a minimum of seven years behind bars.
Umit Gorgulu, 40, was found guilty of intentionally causing serious injury by a Supreme Court jury over the April 2019 incident that left his housemate, Kevin Taplin, with horrific injuries.
The pair had been driving from their home in Portland to pick up Mr Taplin’s motorbike in Hamilton when they began arguing.
Gorgulu became “enraged” with Taplin just outside Hamilton and threw his phone out the window.
He urged Mr Taplin to drive off while he looked for it.
Gorgulu then hitched a ride into Hamilton, telling the woman driving he was going to burn his friend’s bike and “f--k him up”.
The woman dropped Gorgulu off near KFC, where Taplin picked him up before Gorgulu screamed that he hated him.
Gorgulu threatened to kill Mr Taplin before repeatedly punching him in the head.
He grabbed a five-litre jerry can full of petrol from the back of the ute and splashed it on to Mr Taplin and his vehicle before igniting it.
Mr Taplin was engulfed in flames and rolled on the ground before nearby residents rushed over and doused him with water.
He suffered severe burns to his entire body and was flown to The Alfred hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma for two weeks.
Justice Amanda Fox said it remained unclear why Gorgulu became so enraged but his anger “did not abate” from when he was left on the highway.
She sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of seven years.
Michael Gori
A Craigieburn man spent weeks behind bars after he was captured on CCTV trying to mow down e-scooter riders in St Kilda.
Michael Gori, 32, pleaded guilty to the road rage incident, where he circled and drove at four e-scooter riders who were forced to jump out of the way on February 13.
The Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court heard just before midnight an argument broke out between Gori’s girlfriend and a group of riders who were travelling north on St Kilda Rd.
Gori, who was “seeing red” after the altercation, started his yellow Ford and drove at one of the victims, forcing one man to jump off the scooter.
Gori made a U-turn and drove at speed down the wrong side of the road, swerving to hit the unmanned scooter, which was lying on the ground.
He was granted bail to attend his father’s funeral after spending more than two weeks in custody despite opposition from police.
Gori will return to court for sentencing on August 24.
Armaguard attack
A 64-year-old Kensington man was charged after he allegedly smashed the windows of an Armaguard van with a hammer in a brutal road rage incident last year.
Mobile phone footage captured the moment guards were nearly hit by a red hatchback while they turned into the carpark of Newmarket Plaza in Flemington on December 3.
The hatchback driver then approached the van and used a hammer to smash the driver’s side window and front windscreen, cracking the glass.
Footage taken by one of the guards inside the van shows the offender swinging the hammer against the glass as he yells profanities.
Police arrested the man that night and charged him with criminal damage, unlawful assault and assault with a weapon.
He was bailed to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
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