Shocking moments before drink-driver smashes head-on into couple's car

Shocking moments before drink-driver smashes head-on into couple’s car in 90mph crash where husband and wife miraculously cheated death

• Dashcam footage shows Natalie and Stephen Bennett approaching a bend 
• But Richard White’s car, driving on the wrong side, then slams straight into them 

These are the shocking moments before a drunk driver smashed head-on into a couple’s car in a 90mph crash where the husband and wife miraculously cheated death.

Dashcam footage shows Natalie and Stephen Bennett approaching a bend on a 50mph road when Richard White’s Toyota Avensis suddenly veers onto the wrong side.

Despite both cars being obliterated by the 90mph impact of the collision, all three people survived.

Mrs Bennett suffered a broken ankle while her husband had to be airlifted to hospital after fracturing two vertebrae and suffering a broken rib.

Mr Bennett, a scaffolder, had to undergo emergency treatment on his spine and spent 13 weeks in a body brace.

Pictured is the car driven by Natalie Bennett after it had been crashed into head on by the drunk driver

The dash camera shows the Toyota Avensis driven by Richard White heading towards the Bennetts’ car just before impact

He faced uncertainty over whether he would be able to return to his job and the couple were forced to use their life savings while they recovered from their injuries.

White, 52, was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to causing serious injury by driving dangerously and drink driving.

Victim impact statements from the couple were read out in court with Mr Bennett saying the crash had a ‘huge impact on my life’ and Mrs Bennett describing it as a ‘very traumatic incident’.

The court heard White, of Charlton Mead, Charlton Marshall, Dorset, was of previous good character.

It also heard he had a clean driving licence and runs a joinery business in Sturminster Newton.

Richard Tutt, defending, said his client had been suffering a decline in his mental health in the months leading up to the incident which happened on the A352 near Dorchester on September 12, 2022.

He said: ‘He accepts full responsibility for what he did.

‘He acknowledges that he was driving too fast for the conditions as is shown on the crystal clear dashcam footage and he was over twice the drink drive limit.’

Bournemouth Crown Court heard White was also taken to hospital after the crash and interviewed by police at a later date where he made no comment.

The Bennetts were approaching a bend on a 50mph road when Richard White’s Toyota Avensis (pictured) suddenly veered onto the wrong side of the road

Mr Tutt said White had ‘no independent recollection at all of what happened’ and had since sought help for his mental well-being.

In jailing him, Judge William Mousley said: ‘This was driving while you were grossly impaired by drink and driving at excessive speed in the circumstances.’

The judge said there were good prospect of rehabilitation and there would be an impact on members of White’s family but said the seriousness of the case could only be marked by immediate imprisonment.

White was also disqualified from driving for three years.