By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis believes he is lucky to have avoided harm after a man with a “British accent” accosted him while driving last week and forced him to veer off the road into someone’s driveway.

He said he spoke of the unusual encounter in the House of Assembly yesterday during a debate on anti-gang legislation to show that road rage does exist.

“As politicians, you too must be careful,” he said.

Dr Minnis said he was heading home from Starbucks in Cable Beach around 7.30am when a car driver tried to overtake him dangerously.

“I was driving a normal, relaxed mode heading home,” he said. “That car that was overtaking me had to slow down and avoid himself hitting into another car.”

“As I turned, that car followed me. I assume that it was somebody following me who just wanted to talk. I continued driving and that car pulled up on the side of me. To avoid hitting the car, I had to drive basically across somebody’s driveway to avoid the car.”

Dr Minnis said the driver continued following him so at one point he stopped and lowered his window to see who it was.

“An individual with a British accent,” he said, “started to accost me and aggressively threw words at me, stating that I could have caused him to run into a vehicle. And he aggressively continued.

“Before taking off and realizing and recognizing that this was a case of road rage, the only thing I said is that you should be happy that I’m travelling by myself this morning because if my aides or my security was with me, this conversation would never have happened.”

Dr Minnis said the matter is being investigated, with police looking for a Caucasian British man.

“As politicians, we take life lightly and not serious,” he said. “We automatically assume that people are calling us because they are probably your constituent, friend or whatever, and they want to talk. We stop. We expose ourselves by screwing down our glass. But I was lucky. It could have been an individual who could have taken a shot at me.”