Motorist speaks of fury as Amazon lorry driver spared punishment despite nearly ramming him off road in Derbyshire

Adrian Kowalski, 52, was left fearing for his life when the angry yob tried to deliberately force his van off the road during a shocking incident caught on dashcam footage.

The heart-stopping incident occurred on November 18 last year near the M1 in Barlborough.

Footage shows the 44-tonne truck swerving onto the wrong side of the road before veering towards Adrian's vehicle, causing him to take evasive action to avoid a horror crash.

Amazon confirmed at the time the worker was sacked while Derbyshire Police launched an investigation.

But this week Adrian was left gobsmacked to learn the driver had been let off without any charges and had been asked to attend a driving course instead.

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In a letter to Adrian, the force even admitted there was enough evidence to justify a prosecution but court action would do nothing "to correct poor driving habits."

Now Adrian, of Burton-upon-Trent, has blasted the police's "lenient" decision to punish the driver with a £180 Safe and Considerate Driving course.

He said: “You get a worse punishment for doing 36mph in a 30 zone than when you try and ram someone off the road in a 40-tonne vehicle.

“It wasn’t an accident. I remember road rage before used to be quite serious and now it just doesn’t seem to be. It just seems like he's getting away, a half day course just seems very light and lenient.

"He tried to run me off the road and chase me down and was even on the wrong side of the road. Even a fine and points would be better than this.

“This whole incident has made me wary and I never had a dash-cam till this happened. I’m a lot more cautious when I come to junctions and it’s not just about Amazon lorries either.

"I've driven for 35 years and never seen anyone in a lorry driving like that - I was absolutely gobsmacked."

The letter states the driver will be offered the educational course, which he will have to pay for, before completing a practical driver assessment to a satisfactory level.

He will only face prosecution if he refuses to attend the course or is involved in a similar incident within three years of its completion.

It states: "Whilst there is sufficient evidence in this case to justify a prosecution, there is no provision in law for a Magistrate to offer such restraining and the imposition of a fine and penalty points will not do anything to correct poor driving habits."

A Derbyshire Police spokesperson said: "Following an investigation into the incident the driver of the lorry was offered a safe and considerate driving course.

"Derbyshire Constabulary participates in the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme – which seeks to improve the education of drivers who have committed driving offences.

"Courses are offered to drivers who have committed offences that, after a review, are deemed eligible based on a strict set of national criteria.

"Should the course not be undertaken by a certain date then the matter will be taken to court where a range of further sanctions can be imposed."