A Shepparton rubbish truck driver has been forced to take time off work following a violent road rage incident in town last week.
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Phil Jun was collecting rubbish last Tuesday morning in Percival St, Shepparton, about 9 am when he was confronted with what he described as an agitated driver.
“I saw this bloke from his car and he was pointing at me and I could see the guy had a problem with me ... I thought it might have been because I cut him off down the last street or something,” he said.
“He stopped in the middle of the road and jumped out and ran towards my truck, I was in shock.”
Dash-cam footage from inside Mr Jun's rubbish truck shows the man running towards the driver's door of the truck before he and Mr Jun get into a verbal argument while he is still sitting inside.
“He then hit the door three times, damaged the door, cracked the door handle and dinted it,” Mr Jun said.
“He also tried to open the door but I was holding the handle and trying to close it.”
The footage then shows Mr Jun hopping out of the cabin and facing the man in the middle of the street.
The man can be seen waving his arms at Mr Jun, while Mr Jun points back at the truck to tell him there are cameras.
“I said what was his problem, there are cameras ... he was saying, `Come on, punch me, I'm going to kill you and your family’," Mr Jun said.
“He called me names like `Asian’ and said `Go back to China'.”
The footage then shows the man getting back into his vehicle and driving away, and Mr Jun running back to the truck to take down the vehicle's registration number before calling the police.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before to me in Shepparton. It's traumatising — I don't know if I can go back to driving again,” Mr Jun said.
Mr Jun was forced to take time off work after he was left shaken by the incident.
Driving trucks for 18 years, with the past two being in Shepparton, Mr Jun said he could only recall one other road rage incident he was involved in of a similar nature.
By sharing the distressing incident he hoped it would make people more aware of what other drivers were capable of.
“This person stopped in the middle of the road and wanted to beat me up. If he can do that to me, he can do that to anyone else,” Mr Jun said.
“People were shocked that he stopped in the middle of the road and they were watching ... but no-one intervened.”
Shepparton police confirmed they were aware of an altercation between two drivers on Percival St in Shepparton on June 16, however they said no formal complaint had been made.
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