This is the moment a knife-wielding road rage hothead is cooled down with a fire extinguisher during a traffic jam flare up.

Dashcam footage of the showdown in the Atasehir district of Istanbul, Turkey, on 24th May, shows traffic stuck in roadworks as one clearly frustrated driver leaps out of his car with a knife in his hand.

As he advances menacingly on a highways worker in a hi-vis jacket he brandishes the blade in front of him screaming in fury.

But moments later he is engulfed in a chemical cloud as the quick-thinking worker sets off a fire extinguisher in his face.

Choking on the fumes, he quickly retreats back to his car and roars off after first trying to reverse over the road worker.

The foootage closes with him racing through a red light as he tries to get away.

Police later tracked down and arrested the driver with the knife, named only as 49-year-old H.A., before fining him for public order offences.

He is also facing charges for threatening behaviour, say prosecutors.

(MJ Leidig/newsX)