Shocking dashcam footage shows the moment a drunk driver crashed her car into a hedge – seconds after knocking down two elderly pedestrians. Sarah Reese, 59, injured the pair after getting behind the wheel of her car in a state of intoxication.
The footage, captured on a dashboard camera in Reese’s car, shows her driving downhill before losing control, mounting the curb and careering into a hedge.
Before she takes to the road the camera also picked up Reese promising not to drive.
She can be heard telling somebody off camera: “I was not going to drive away.”
However, moments later she reversed our of her driveway in her black Seat before driving off erratically at around 8pm on April 17 in Fairlight, Sussex.
A subsequent blood test showed she had 135 milligrams (mg) of alcohol per litre of blood in her body. The legal limit is 80mg.
Reese was sentenced in December after she admitted causing a serious injury by dangerous driving and driving while over the limit.
She was jailed for 18 months and disqualified from driving for three years and nine months after which she will have to take an extended re-test.
The former local authority employee appealed her sentence – but it was rejected at Lewes Crown Court on Friday, March 31.
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Sussex Police said they had shared the footage to remind drivers of the dangers of drinking alcohol and then getting behind the wheel.
Roads Policing Unit officer PC Nigel Dunn said: “This case shows the dangers of driving a vehicle after drinking alcohol.
“Reese claimed that she was not impaired, but the footage shows how erratic and dangerous her driving was.
“She caused serious harm to an elderly couple who were walking on the pavement, and was lucky that she did not cause further harm.”
PC Dunn added: “Drink-driving is one of the main factors in why people are killed or seriously injured on our roads.
“So we are pleased that the court rejected the appeal.
“It should be a warning to every drink-driver not to take the risk with their own safety and the safety of other road users.”
