​A motorcyclist broke down and wept as he relived the moment a drink driver ploughed into him at speeds of up to 100mph.

Dean Birch was driving home to Studd Hill from work in Rochester when Robert Rye, 19, smashed into the back of his bike as he tried to overtake a lorry.

Mr Birch says he believes someone was looking down on him that day, as miraculously, he escaped injury.

He said: “I was doing about 65mph and overtook the lorry. The next thing I know, the bike has been lifted into the air and I am wiggling all over the road. If I had seen his lights behind me I would have dropped a gear and pulled away from him but I had no idea how fast he was going.”

The 59-year-old and his bike ended up on the bonnet of Rye’s VW Polo but the experienced motorcyclist remained seated and drove into a layby. Afterwards he approached Rye and asked why he had not seen him as he was wearing a hi-vis jacket.

Medway Magistrates’ Court heard this week how Rye, of Sunningdale Walk, Herne Bay, had downed drinks in Medway before driving along the coast-bound section of the M2 near Faversham.

After the smash, Rye was arrested and gave a breath test reading of 55 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

He was charged with drink driving and driving while unfit through drugs and appeared before magistrates on Tuesday.

While in the dock, Rye admitted drink-driving but denied driving being unfit thought drugs.

The court heard he had passed the drug blood test, but had failed the drug impairment test.

However, the court heard it was possible this was as a result of his excess alcohol, so the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence on the drug charge and dismissed it.

Mr Birch says the impact of the incident affected him profoundly.

The father-of-one explained: “I am not ashamed to mention this to anyone but two days after it happened I broke down and cried. I was sitting at home and said to my missus I cannot believe how lucky I was that night – I thought I was dead – I thought I was under that lorry. Everything happened so quickly. I was so lucky – if he had hit me differently I would have come off the bike. Someone was watching over me that day. I could have been in a box.”

David Nelson, defending, told magistrates his client was sorry.

He added: “He regrets this happened and accepts entirely it was his fault. He had not been driving very long and had visited friends in the Medway area and had three drinks with a meal.

“He is very, very sorry. He works at the Canterbury Garden Centre and earns £600 a month and is not sure he will drive again.”

Magistrates banned him from driving for 15 months, fined him £180 and ordered him to pay £85 in costs.

But Mr Birch thinks the sentence will not have much effect.

He said: “I don’t think anyone really learns from a driving ban, but he has got what he had coming to him and his insurance will be a lot higher when he gets his licence back.

“If that had been me in that car, I would’ve had to have knocked on the door and said sorry.”