Auckland, Oct 28 NZPA - A father travelling with his two young boys in a car, hit by a man accused of deliberately driving his car at speed into them, is unable to work more a year later, the High Court at Auckland was told today.

Tony Worrell, 50, of Swanson in West Auckland, is on trial facing six charges -- murder, causing grievous bodily harm, and four charges of attempted intentional damage.

Katie Powles, 26, died when Worrell's car struck her vehicle in Karaka, south of Auckland, on June 3 last year.

Another man, Brett Robinson, was also seriously injured when Worrell hit his Fiat Uno.

M r Robinson suffered a broken pelvis, a broken leg and a broken arm and has not been able to work since.

His sons, who were nine and 12 years-old at the time, were also in the vehicle, but escaped with just cuts and bruises.

Mr Robinson, giving evidence today, said he managed to swerve slightly to the left just before Worrell hit his vehicle, hitting the front driver's side rather than head-on.

The impact sent Mr Robinson's car into the air, which he said was "like being suspended in space and tossed around in a washing machine".

"I saw a vehicle coming straight towards me with its headlights on," he said.

"It happened in seconds. But I was able to swerve to the left.

"My boys were yelling. I couldn't breathe very well. I told them it was OK, knowing full well that it wasn't.

"There was petrol everywhere and the smell of petrol was rife. We shouted for help.

"One of my sons had fallen on top of me, and with the help of a person who arrived we managed to force the passenger door open."

He had to be cut out of the vehicle and was dragged out of the roof.

The jury also heard evidence today from four other drivers who Worrell had driven into that evening -- Nicholas Salisbury-Smith, Jason Russek, Andrew Gudgeon and Mark Erceg.

Earlier today, the court heard from Ian Cooling, who had been dropped off at Karaka Hall just before 7pm that night to collect his car.

Before he went across to his car, another vehicle pulled up in front of him, he told the court.

"I thought the gentleman was lost and about to ask for directions. I opened the passenger side door to see if I could help him. The first thing I noticed was the smell of alcohol.

"He was ranting and raving and using a lot of hand gestures. He said `he was going to f**k someone up'," Mr Cooling said.

A jury of five men and seven women heard opening statements from Crown and defence yesterday.

Crown prosecutor Kirsten Gray told the jury that Worrell was driving on the wrong side of the road, and his blood alcohol level was at least twice the legal limit for driving.

Before his car had hit Ms Powles' vehicle, he had already driven into four other vehicles, Ms Gray said.

"He had wanted to end his own life.

"He was no stranger to attempts at suicide," Ms Gray said.

But Worrell's lawyer Matthew Goodwin said Worrell did not deliberately drive at vehicles to attempt suicide.

"He did not have suicide on his mind that night," he added.

Mr Goodwin advised the jury to consider how alcohol would have affected Worrell's judgement when driving that day.

The trial is expected to last three weeks. The jury will go on a site visit tomorrow.

Proceeding.