The horrific incident of apparent road rage that saw a driver left with head injuries after being attacked with a metal bar close to Bradford city centre will send a shiver down the spine of regular motorists.

Many of us will have experienced moments where we are infuriated with the behaviour of other road users, and may have even been tempted to use our horns or gesticulate.

This sort of escalation, though, is simply terrifying, and cannot be tolerated.

The frightening thought is that the victim could have been anyone, simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whatever sparked the incident in the first place, and whoever’s fault it was, this was the act of a vicious and violent criminal who belongs behind bars.

Everything possible must now be done to catch this man, which is why it is so frustrating that the police have waited for almost two weeks before releasing any information.

That distance from the incident means that people’s memories of anything they might have seen in and around the area, either before or after the attack, will have faded. Those who witnessed the violence will obviously have it long-imprinted on their minds, but there must have been many others who might have seen the car and driver described by the police driving erratically away from the scene or may recognise someone they had seen earlier from the description.

There are sometimes operational reasons why police do not release information immediately, but if they are appealing for public help to try to trace a suspect, it is difficult to understand a delay like this.

This man needs taking off the roads and putting behind bars before anyone else is unfortunate enough to cross his path. Hopefully this appeal, despite being so late, will help do that.