Man admits firing five shots at car in high-speed road rage attack, denies attempted murder (ABC)

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A Perth man has admitted firing five shots at another car during a high-speed road rage incident on a South Australian highway, but has told an Adelaide court his actions do not amount to attempted murder.

Michael Craig Anderson, 53, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to an aggravated charge of endangering life, but the prosecution did not accept his plea, instead wanting him tried for attempted murder.

Opening the trial, prosecutor Jim Pearce told the jury that in July last year Anderson was involved in an incident that went far beyond road rage.

"Road rage is one of those phrases that seems to have crept into modern language. I suspect we all know what it means," Mr Pearce said.

"This crime began with what I would call an act of road rage on the part of the accused, very quickly his actions went well beyond anything that could be classified as that."

Mr Pearce said the victim, Zephatali Walsh, had been travelling on the Eyre Highway from Penong on the state's west coast to Adelaide to visit his mother and had just his dog and a surfboard for company.

The court heard Mr Walsh had deliberately been driving at below the speed limit in an attempt to save fuel but was soon reaching speeds around 180 kilometres per hour and fearing for his life on the remote stretch of road.

"Not far out of Kimba, Mr Walsh noticed a silver commodore travelling behind him. The silver commodore began to get very close to Mr Walsh's commodore," he said.

"The silver commodore driven by the accused sat behind Mr Walsh for some time but then overtook Mr Walsh.

"He completed an otherwise uneventful overtaking manoeuvre before abruptly hitting his breaks."

Mr Walsh could not stop in time and there was a minor rear-end collision.

Mr Pearce said after the collision Anderson took off again but drove no faster than 40 kilometres per hour.

"Mr Walsh decided to overtake that car to get away from him because he was concerned about what might happen," Mr Pearce said.

He said Anderson then overtook Mr Walsh for a second time and again hit the brakes, though this time Mr Walsh avoided a crash.

In a repeat of the earlier incident, Mr Pearce told the jury, Anderson took off at slow speed again and Mr Walsh decided to again attempt to drive away.

"As the nose of Mr Walsh's car got close to the back of the silver commodore, Mr Walsh saw the driver of that commodore put his head and arm out of the driver's side window. That man was holding a large silver gun," Mr Pearce said.

"He ducked down and tried to accelerate away but the silver commodore accelerated as well.

"At this stage Mr Walsh thought he was travelling at about 180 kilometres per hour, maybe more."

Victim made pleas for help: prosecutor

Mr Pearce told the jury that Mr Walsh began calling police for help on his mobile phone and spoke with them on a poor phone line on-and-off for about 30 minutes.

He read from the transcript of some of those calls.

"I need help, I need help. He's shooting me. Jesus. I'm flat out, it's wet. Oh my god, this guy is shooting at me," he read.

Mr Pearce told the jury Mr Walsh was in fear for his life.

"The accused chased him and shot at him as he tried to get away. He drove at speeds approaching 200 kilometres per hour," he told the court.

"He drove at those speeds on a wet country road as he tried to get away from the accused, fearing for his life."

At one point, the court was told, a semi-trailer was ahead of Mr Walsh, and he was trapped behind it with no way of knowing what was up ahead.

"Mr Walsh will tell you he thought he was going to die at that point. Because he thought he was going to die, he pulled out onto the wrong side of the road, not knowing what lay up ahead," Mr Pearce said.

"Fortunately the road ahead was clear and he managed to pull away from the silver commodore."

Police eventually caught up with both drivers separately.

They allegedly found a 0.357 Smith and Wesson Magnum revolver under the driver's seat in Anderson's car along with two other guns in the boot.

Also in the boot, in a suitcase and wrapped in a handkerchief, was a speed loader, used to quickly load a firearm. The speed loader had in it five spent cartridge cases and one live round, each compatible with the revolver.

The court was told six other live rounds were found in a separate speed loader in the car's console.

Mr Pearce said swabs taken from Anderson's hands by forensic experts showed traces of three chemical compounds that are emitted when a gun is fired.

'Foolish and silly', but not attempted murder: lawyer

Anderson's defence lawyer Brian Deegan told the jury his client had no intent to kill Mr Walsh, and the charge of attempted murder could not be made out.

"He admits before you that he quite recklessly endangered the life [of Mr Walsh], he accepts that he did so quite foolishly," Mr Deegan said.

"Endangering a life is a very serious charge on its own. It does not equate to attempting to take somebody's life.

"There was no reason to take Mr Walsh's life."

Mr Deegan said Anderson was heading to Adelaide from Perth on a holiday and intended to use the guns recreationally.

He said his client "readily accepts" he engaged in "bad behaviour" but that he did not want to kill Mr Walsh.

"There was not a bullet that went anywhere near the victim - his car, yes, the victim, no," he said.

"Being silly, yes, taking somebody's life, no.

"The evidence will show that the accused is a man who has the right to carry guns... he is not new to guns.

"If by using a gun he wanted to inflict an injury that would take away another's life, I think you'll find he could have.

"He had no intention to kill."

The trial before Justice John Sulan is expected to run for five days.

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