'We were too drunk to trust a drunk driver': Friends lucky to be alive after car torn apart in crash
Police are struggling to believe that three cousins and their friend managed to survive a crash in Sydney’s south that tore a car apart.
The driver didn’t know his passengers, he had offered to give them a lift.
Police alleged Daniel Leech was not only drunk but had also been suspended for high-speed driving before the man got behind the wheel at Kingsgrove.
He now needed an explanation for family of the four men he nearly killed.
They group somehow managed to crawl away from the unregistered Mitsubishi Lancer after a power pole carved through the passenger side, where Joseph Pouhila was thrown clear.
The 18-year-old New Zealander will spend the third night of his stay in Australia in Intensive Care, with a ruptured kidney and spleen, fractured pelvis and ribs, and head injuries.
"Scary man. Started running into trees, I think we bounced off one tree, I blacked out,” David Tevitatuitupou told 7 News.
"Going over the speed limit and then got out of control."
All the men were drunk, 34-year-old Leech allegedly blew .168 at the scene, more than three times the legal limit.
Leech had only just befriended the man at at Kingsgrove Hotel, before offering a lift.
He insisted he was doing only 60kph in the 50k zone on Vanessa St, however police have done tests to verify.
He was already suspended for speeding in excess of 45kph.
As Leech was sent to hospital, one of his passengers punched him in the head, angry with what had happened.
"We made a dumb decision. We were too drunk to trust a drunk driver," Tuitakau Niupalavis said.
"It's a miracle we made it out alive."
Leech is expected to be charged when he has recovered.
