Watch impatient driver caused horror crash when he overtook line of up to 15 cars at up to 98mph
This is the terrifying moment an impatient driver caused a horror crash when he overtook a line of up to 15 cars on a single carriageway at speeds of up to 98mph.
Ross Jackson was stuck behind traffic travelling north along the busy A697 near Wooller, Northumberland, when he tried to get in front and lost control at enormous speed.
Newcastle Crown Court heard one car, which was travelling southbound, was able to take evasive action.
But shocking dashcam footage shows Jackson's Volkswagen Golf hit a Audi Q3 and strike several others as his vehicle "cartwheeled" in the air along the road.
The Audi driver and her mother, who was front seat passenger, both suffered serious injuries that have had lasting effects and a dog inside the car was hurt.
Jackson, whose vehicle eventually landed on its roof, was in an induced coma for five days, spent three weeks in hospital and has no memory of the crash.
His dog was thrown from his vehicle and suffered such serious injuries it had to be put down.
Jackson, 26, of Bridge Street, Selkirk, Scotland, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving and has been jailed for 28 months with a 50 month road ban
Judge Graham Robinson told him: "You were travelling north, it was busy, you were stuck in a line of traffic and rather than patiently sitting in the line of traffic you decided to undertake and overtake, the prosecution says you overtook somewhere between 10 and 15 vehicles at a speed far in excess of the 60mph limit, in the region of 80 to 90."
The judge added: "You were travelling at 98mph at the time of impact. The combined impact velocity between your car and the Audi was well in excess of 100mph.
"Footage shows your Golf being thrown in the air, turning in cartwheels. You can't see all of the cars you struck but I am told you struck three others before coming to rest on the roof.”
Judge Robinson told Jackson: "It was highly dangerous to overtake that many cars on a single carriageway road at that sort of speed. Your speed was significantly in excess of the speed limit.
"The decision to overtake a line of traffic on a busy A-road at speeds of nearly 100mph is unfathomable to any rational driver.
"You had total disregard to the almost inevitability of a collision and near certainty of causing death of serious injury."
The court heard the driver of the Audi closed her two businesses and had to cancel a first class trip to New York due to the impact on her.
Her mother had blood clots on the lungs and fractures and spent 11 days in hospital.
Brian Hegarty, defending, said: "He is profoundly sorry and remorseful for what he has done, he knows fully what he has done.
"The defendant is now 26, he has had a driving licence since age 17. This accident was a complete aberration.
"This is a defendant who doesn't have any convictions of any sort, not just driving convictions but any conviction of any sort."
Mr Hegarty said Jackson has employment and character references.