WATCH: Drink driver crash causes car to flip on roof on A14
Nilen Chauhan was driving at speeds well in excess of 100mph
A drink driver has been jailed after causing a huge crash on the A14 in Cambridgeshire.
Nilen Chauhan, 27, had been seen “absolutely flooring it” in his Volkswagen Polo moments before slamming into the back of a Mitsubishi L200, on the A14 at Bar Hill.
The impact caused the Mitsubishi to slide a distance on its roof before coming to a stop.
The driver miraculously escaped and walked away from the collision at about 6.35am on 14th September last year.
With his head covered in blood, the shaken victim told officers at the scene he had been driving in lane four when the crash happened.
“I was just driving in a straight line and the last minute…I just see it,” he said. “I was absolutely upside down and my head was scraping along the floor.”
Witnesses said they had seen Chauhan weaving between lanes and cutting other vehicles up at speeds of “well over 100mph” for about 10 miles before the crash.
One witness said in her 20 years of driving she had never seen someone drive “with so little regard to other road users”.
Several empty beer bottles and a bottle of whisky were found inside the car and Chauhan blew 104ug at the roadside, three times the legal limit of 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath.
Chauhan, of Westrow Gardens, Ilford, Greater London, admitted drink driving and driving a vehicle dangerously, and was handed a one year and four months prison sentence, suspended for two years, at Cambridge Crown Court on 26 February.
He was also disqualified from driving for three years and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
After the ban expires, Chauhan must also take an extended driving test.
PC Ben Patten and PC Jemma Russell from the Road Policing Unit investigated the collision. “Chauhan’s driving was quite frankly some of the worst we have seen," PC Patten said.
“This was not a momentary lapse in concentration or an honest mistake, it was a prolonged period of driving at excessive speed, tailgating and undertaking vehicles, all while well over the drink drive limit.
“The victim who was hit by Chauhan suffered many physical and mental injuries and it is miraculous neither he or another innocent member of the public going about their daily business was not more seriously injured or worse.
“This type of driving not only affects the lives of those directly involved but also has a ripple effect on the families of the victims as well as the local communities and the NHS.”