A witness to the incident, which involved enraged 33-year-old Carl Armstrong, thought somebody was going to die.

Armstrong runs his own railway related business and was driving a Toyota LandCruiser with company signage and a phone number at Glenrowan.

The victim, who was in a black Mitsubishi Triton with his three-year-old grandson, was passing a truck when Armstrong came up behind him.

The NSW man tailgated him, tried to overtake the man as he passed a truck, and went into the emergency lane.

He swerved into the victim's vehicle while driving beside him and rammed the car when the man pulled over.

The Wangaratta Magistrates Court yesterday heard Armstrong pulled out a metal straight edge during a verbal confrontation on the roadside.

The man drove off and the victim went straight to Wangaratta police, and Armstrong was arrested while driving at Wodonga.

Police prosecutor Heath Dosser yesterday said it was an example of "extremely bad road rage" which magistrate Lance Martin agreed with.

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"It's certainly a total disdain for the safety of other road users," Mr Martin told the court.

The magistrate said if anyone had been injured during the incident, he would have had no qualms in imposing an immediate jail term.

A woman who witnessed the incident had sounded her horn in a bid to get Armstrong to stop amid concerns about a potential crash.

She also called triple zero to report what was happening.

Mr Martin told Armstrong it was "appalling conduct on your part" which amounted to bullying on the road.

The 33-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless conduct endangering serious injury with other charges dropped.

He was fined $7000 and banned from driving for 12 months.

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