"I could smell the alcohol on his breath' motorcyclist warns against drink driving after A3 crash
Last updated 10th Jun 2022
After dashcam footage was released by Surrey Police to warn of the dangers of drink driving, Greatest Hits Radio Surrey and East Hampshire have spoken with the motorcyclist who was hit.
Tom Hayes was hit at 84 miles per hour (mph) by a drunk driver on the A3 near Thursley in July last year.
The footage was recorded by the driver's own dashcam and shows him driving about the speed limit before failing to notice a motorcyclist driving ahead of him. The collision occured at 84mph and left Tom with deep cuts to his elbows and a broken back.
"I remember sliding across the floor for about half a second, then nothing and then I just remember lying on my side, not knowing where I was, what's gonna happen, I couldn't physically move.
"He came running over and was going "Hello can you here me? Hello? Hello? Are you alive? Hello?" I sort of said yeah, I'm here.
"And then I could smell the alcohol in his breath, as soon as he said one word I could smell it and then fear and dread just rushed over me and I thought oh my god he's just gonna leave, and if he leave's I'm in the middle of the A3, I'm gonna get run over, I'm going to die if he leaves.
"So I tried to turn to see his car but cause his lights were shining I couldn't see anything, but, luckily, he did stay with me, call and ambulance, that's when I got carted off to hospital."
After the collision Tom was taken to hospital for his injuries to his back and elbows and said that he didn't know how he was alive after the speed he was hit.
He recalled being in hospital:
"It's hard to process what happened. I was like, oh my god I had a motorbike accident, oh my god I nearly died, oh my god am I dead?
"All of these things were going through my head and some points I actually thought I died, because, there's no way I could have survived something like that going that speed."
Tom has since had physiotherapy for his back injuries and whilst he is better than he was, he will always suffer with the injuries:
"As soon as I come out of hospital I couldn't hold my kids for 3 to 4 months, I couldn't stand up, I couldn't hug my partner for a long time."
The dashcam footage released hopes to show people the devastating impact drink driving can have and why drinking under the influence is illegal.
Tom wanted the footage to be shared to try and help others realise that drink driving should never be an option, even if only one drink has been consumed:
"Don't ride at night. Don't drink and drive. Be with your family as much as you can.
"Family is key."
The driver of the vehicle was arrested at the scene and blood analysis later showed that he had 105mg of alcohol per 100ml in his system, above the legal limit of 80mg per 100ml.
Nuno Ferreira, 45, of Silo Drive in Godalming, was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment and disqualified from driving for four years at Guildford Crown Court on 26 May.