Tears as rage teen jailed

A disqualified teen driver who smashed up a bus in a fit of road rage outside a police station has cried after being sentenced to at least six months in jail.

Michael Peter Hotait, 19, who had already lost his licence for mid-range drink driving in May, took an iron bar to the side doors and back window of a bus which had pulled out in front of him on George Street at the Rocks on August 4.

On August 10 Hotait was caught by police driving in Pagewood and two days later was again caught and charged with driving while disqualified.

Hotait, who pleaded guilty to the offences, was sentenced to nine months in jail with a non-parole period of six months.

He will not be able to drive until at least December 2012 as imposed by Waverley Local Court and perhaps an additional decade if the Roads and Traffic Authority imposes its own penalty, the court heard.

Around the time of the road rage incident Hotait had been made homeless after his parents took out an Apprehended Violence order against him.

He had been living in his car and driving to friends' houses to take showers, the court heard.

In sentencing Hotait, Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge said his history of traffic offences, including driving as a learner without supervision, showed he was a person who continued to defy the law.

"Nothing stops you in your tracks," Ms Milledge said. "You completely flout the law."

Ms Milledge acknowledged that Hotait had encountered a tough period in his life, but the fact that his own family had taken out an AVO against him said "more about you than your parents".

"The community can't wait for people like you to get their act together," she told him.

During the road rage incident, which occurred outside a police station, bystanders were forced to scurry out of the way as Hotait drove his car on the footpath as he left the scene.

Ms Milledge said the bus driver had been "out of line" in cutting across double lines to overtake, but she was scathing of Hotait for taking the matters into his own hands.

"You're not his judge and jury, you should not have brought out an iron bar and done damage to that bus," she said.

If that had been the only incident a non-custodial sentence would have been considered, however Ms Milledge said jail time was the only sentence that would deter him in the future.

"The message from the courts has got to be a strong message. It's got to be loud and clear that we will not tolerate young people like you defying the road rules and putting other people in danger," she said.

Hotait, who was supported in court by two friends, cried as he was taken into custody.

Perth man jailed for road rage

A 19-year-old Perth man has been sentenced to 15 months jail for a road rage attack in which he drove into four cyclists.

Adam Mark Stratfold reversed into the group, after one of them tapped on the window of his car on Marmion Avenue in February this year.

One cyclist was thrown over the bonnet of the car and suffered a broken finger and ankle.

District Court judge Mary Ann Yeats said Stratfold showed a persistent rage and careless attitude to the life, health and safety of the cyclists.

Stratfold will have to serve seven-and-a-half months before he can be released on parole.

Aussie motorists getting angrier: report

Australian drivers are getting angrier and they're not shy about showing other motorists exactly how they feel.

Figures released by insurance company AAMI shows driver aggression is at an all-time high with acts of revenge becoming increasingly popular.

The figures show 68 per cent of drivers had been tailgated at some point, while 32 per cent said they had been followed.

The number of motorists who considered tailgating to be an acceptable response to road rage had more than quadrupled since AAMI first canvassed road rage among drivers in 1997 when just five per cent said they had been angry enough to tailgate another driver.

Alarmingly, one in seven drivers surveyed said they had been forced off the road, while one in 10 have had their car wilfully damaged as a result of an altercation with another motorist.

Two-thirds, or 69 per cent, said they had been verbally abused, while four in five, or 83 per cent, had received rude hand gestures.

More than half (57 per cent) of those surveyed admitted to gesturing rudely or yelling at another driver when they had done something dangerous or rude.

Of those, 83 per cent thought the payback was justified.

"While many of us have sworn or gestured rudely at other drivers from time to time, it is completely unacceptable that one-fifth of drivers have become so angry with the actions of another motorist that they have resorted to tailgating," AAMI public affairs manager Geoff Hughes said.

"If this wasn't bad enough, 60 per cent of those drivers thought tailgating as retribution was entirely justifiable."

"The rise in road rage is worrying in itself, however, also concerning is the increasing number of motorists who believe this sort of retaliation is entirely acceptable," Mr Hughes said.