Man attacks car with axe in wild road rage incident

Terrifying footage shows the moment a road rage incident goes south when an angry driver whips out a fire axe and starts performing his best lumberjack impression on another car.

The city of Memphis is famous for a lot of things; Blues, The Big River Crossing, Beale Street and – apparently – blokes with limited dispute-resolution skills.

While driving in the city on Saturday morning, an unnamed 76-year-old man in an SUV accidentally rear-ended a black 2012 Chevy Impala.

Both vehicles came to a halt in the middle of the road, but before the elderly man could exit his vehicle to apologise and exchange details (the normal thing to do in this situation), the Impala driver leapt out of the car and began verbally abusing him and his girlfriend, who was seated beside him.

Unsatisfied with the impact of using his words, the Impala driver reminded himself that actions do, in fact, speak louder – and promptly retrieved an axe from the trunk.

What happened next was captured in videos from eyewitnesses who had pulled up at a red light some thirty-odd metres behind the couple’s SUV.

The video shows the Impala driver, axe in hand, walk up along the driver’s side of the truck before he readies himself into the woodchopping position.

He brings the axe in a wide arc over his head, before heaving it forward and smashing it through the driver’s side window.

The axe man strikes. Picture: Supplied

Not confident his message had been heard, he reloads and then brings the axe around – this time sideways – into the door of the vehicle.

The attacker tries to wedge his axe from out of the SUV's door. Picture: Supplied

The axe becomes momentarily lodged in the door of the car, before the Impala driver awkwardly rips it back out and – exhausted and probably a little bit sweaty – decides he might have to take his jacket off.

The attacker picks up his things and leaves. Picture: supplied

He stands on the side of the road, surveys the damage for a moment and then decides that the dispute has been effectively resolved, before collecting his things and walking back to his vehicle.

“We were all freaking out … my husband had just told us that morning that we really didn’t need to be going to Memphis by ourselves because it was four women,” said an unnamed woman to local news channel WREG.

Authorities who responded to the scene were given the plate number of the axe-wielding Impala driver, and are currently conducting inquiries as to his whereabouts.

Neither the driver of the SUV nor his girlfriend were injured in the assault.

Originally published as Man attacks car with axe in wild road rage incident