Travis Henson threw a screwdriver out of his moving car and later attacked a man's car with a 60-centimetre plastic pole on May 27, in a bizarre road rage incident sparked by a quick horn blast.

Port Kembla Local Court heard on Tuesday the 23-year-old's girlfriend was driving him home along the Princes Highway at Kembla Grange around 4pm, when he became angry at a fellow driver travelling south.

The driver had blown the horn at Henson's girlfriend, apparently annoyed that she hadn't allowed him to merge into her lane safely.

Henson retaliated by throwing a screwdriver out his window in the direction of the car, but it failed to reach its mark.

The incident quickly escalated when the driver followed Henson's girlfriend's car to Dapto and attempted to take down a registration number when they stopped at traffic lights.

Henson jumped out of his car and approached the man, who armed himself with a hard plastic pole he had in his car.

He then "poked" Henson with the pole to ward him off, but ended up on the receiving end when Henson grabbed hold of the weapon.

The man received an injury to the forearm defending himself from the blows before Henson took the pole, smashed the side mirror and damaged other parts of the car.

During Henson's sentencing hearing, the court heard he had a number of glowing character references, including one from his employer that described him as a hard-working and pleasant person.

However, it was acknowledged in court that he needed to work on his anger issues.

Magistrate Mark Richardson sentenced him to an 18-month good behaviour bond, fined him $900 and ordered him to pay compensation, if sought.