Road Rage Incident on Route 12 Leads to Driver Assault

A routine evening commute turned violent on Monday, October 26, 2026, along the RN12 highway near Guingamp in the Côtes-d'Armor department. While caught in heavy traffic caused by ongoing roadwork, a local public sector employee named Cyrille was physically assaulted by another motorist following a dispute over driving behavior.

According to the victim, traffic was moving at a crawl as vehicles approached a lane reduction from two lanes down to one. Like several other drivers attempting to prevent reckless motorists from bypassing the queue on the left, Cyrille positioned his vehicle across both lanes to regulate the flow.

The suspect approached from behind at a high rate of speed, flashing his headlights and honking aggressively. As traffic came to a standstill, the aggressive driver exited his vehicle and began pounding on Cyrille's driver-side window with his hands and elbows while hurling insults and damaging the exterior door handle.

When Cyrille unbuckled his seatbelt to exit, the assailant forced the door completely open and landed three or four punches to the victim's face before fleeing the scene. The attack resulted in a broken tooth, a swollen cheekbone, bleeding gums, and tinnitus, as confirmed by a physician who prescribed three days of temporary work interruption and an anxiolytic to cope with sleep disturbances.

Following the altercation, a bystander handed Cyrille a piece of paper containing the license plate number of the aggressor. Cyrille immediately contacted local authorities by phone and subsequently filed an official complaint at the Guingamp gendarmerie.

Using the license plate information, gendarmes identified and contacted the vehicle owner, who resides in the Paris region. The suspect claimed that Cyrille had provoked the physical altercation by blocking the roadway to prevent him from passing.

Law enforcement officials confirmed they received initial calls from witnesses at the scene, but no formal written testimonies have been submitted. Cyrille is now urging witnesses to come forward to ensure his complaint is not dismissed without further legal action.