A dashcam captured footage of a Saturday morning road rage incident in Halifax, N.S., where two men appear to assault the driver of another vehicle and a bystander uses his car to try to try to prevent the perpetrators from leaving.

The incident took place at the intersection of Prospect and St. Margarets Bay roads.

The footage was uploaded to YouTube on Sunday and shows vehicles pulled up to a red light. A passenger in the first vehicle in line gets out, opens the door of the vehicle behind him, says something to the driver and then appears to strike the person.

The driver of the first vehicle also gets out, pushes his passenger aside and appears to also strike the driver of the second vehicle.

The two then return to their vehicle. Another vehicle waiting at the red light pulls in front to try and block the perpetrators from leaving, but is unsuccessful.

Not clear what prompted attack

It isn't clear from the video what led to the incident and police aren't sure either.

Halifax Regional Police confirm a call came in at 9:59 a.m. and say they investigated, but were unable to find either the person who was assaulted or the two men who attacked.

Const. Dianne Woodworth said given it involved common assault, police can't lay charges unless the victim wants them to be pressed.

"It's really up to the victim," she said.

Police discourage bystanders from helping out

Woodworth said she doesn't recommend bystanders get involved in road rage incidents. Instead, they should take down as much information as possible — such as the licence plate, vehicle colour, number of occupants — and call police.

She said dashcam footage can be a very helpful investigative tool.

"It's giving us details that would otherwise be a person's recollection," she said.