Road rage or plain old thuggery?

'Gutless wonder' and 'coward' are two words that come to mind when I think about the 27-year-old who bashed a 78-year-old grandfather in a road rage incident in Auckland.

There are others of course but they could not be published here.

According to reports the attack was brought on by a "minor crash" between the 78-year-old's van and a BMW on Auckland's Carrington Road.

What happened after that is now before the courts.

The fact that it all took place in front of a group of school children adds to my disgust.

But this is yet another highlight of something that makes Auckland such a nightmare to drive in.

I have to admit that driving around the city gets my blood pressure up.

I like to drive but I hate to drive in Auckland.

Why?

Because Aucklanders are so full of their own self-importance that they make it like a marathon effort.

I absolutely despise the people – usually in their big 4x4's that have never seen a muddy trail – who drive to the end of the queue to get on to the motorway and just push their way in.

Do you just think you're so much more important than the rest of us that you deserve to be first on?

And then there are the ones who just drive like they own the whole road.

You know the ones who think that everyone behind them is obviously a mind-reader and therefore just make that sharp right turn in front of you forcing you to slam on your brakes and wait for the inevitable crunch as the car behind you slams into your back end.

And then there are the angry ones.

They usually fall into the categories above but they do it pumped to the eyeballs with rage.

And why do they do it?

Well your guess is as good as mine, to be honest.

Maybe it's just because they feel they're that much more important than everyone else that they deserve to be there.

Who knows?

But whatever makes a 27-year-old get out of his car and set upon an old man because of a "minor crash" is seriously gutless.