A man who made a U-turn to ram another car in a fit of road rage in Zhongshan, Guangdong province, has been detained by police and is likely to face criminal charges.

A video clip of how he tried to get revenge on the other car went viral online.

The man, surnamed Zhao, 32, was rear-ended on July 28 when he changed lanes and cut in front of another car, driven by a man surnamed Peng.

After his car was rear-ended, Zhao jumped onto Peng's car and kicked it while quarreling with Peng.

Then he returned to his car, turned it around and deliberately rammed Peng's car several times.

Damage to Peng's car was estimated at more than 19,000 yuan ($2,900), according to Zhangshan's traffic police department.

Zhao, from Guang'an, Sichuan province, is the legal representative of a company in Dongguan, a Pearl River Delta city in Guangdong province.

"Zhao is also suspected of a criminal act, and at a minimum he is suspected to have endangered public safety," said local lawyer Zhu Mingyong.

"If Zhao is pronounced guilty, he will be seriously punished."

Peng Peng, a senior researcher at the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, said the growing number of cases involving road rage indicated that many drivers have poor awareness of traffic rules.

"Relevant departments should do more to publicize traffic rules and educate drivers to respect the lives of both others and themselves," Peng said. "Meanwhile, drivers' should not be so impetuous."

It is easy to get rear-ended or cause other traffic accidents when drivers don't concentrate on driving, he added.

Xie Xintian contributed to this story