ROAD rage is a phenomenon of our age - and a horrifying one.

It's hardly surprising that the woman whose battered face we show today is too frightened to be identified in any other way.

She was just crossing the road in Blackburn town centre at 7 o'clock in the evening when a car, which she said appeared to be travelling fast, screeched to a halt on a crossing.

She said a young woman clutching an alcopop climbed out of the passenger door followed by a man aged between 18 and 23 years old who set about her in full view of people waiting at bus stops on Railway Road.

The victim thinks she was attacked because she said 'you're going to kill someone if you drive so fast' or because the driver was angry at having to slow down for her to cross the road.

No right thinking person would accept for a second that either of these constitute any sort of reason for a brutal assault like this.

And so callous were this driver's actions that it not surprising that police want to withold the victim's identity and place of work to protect her from future attacks by someone who appears to have no self control whatsoever.

Standards of courtesy on our roads have deteriorated alarmingly over recent years.

Old fashioned good manners seem to have disappeared as people rush through traffic from appointment to appointment, often making mobile phone calls as they go.

Dangerous manoeuvres, shaken fists, shouting and swearing are becoming commonplace as tempers flare.

Sentences on people responsible for appalling injuries like this must be heavy enough to deter anyone from such action in the future.