A driver whose need for speed saw him thrown from his out-of-control vehicle will live life in the slow lane, once police catch up with him.

Late on February 29, Jason Savage speed along Pahiatua's Main St, travelling as fast as 97kmh in a 50kmh zone.

All the while his driver's-side door was bent backwards after a backing mishap.

Savage, 22, was to be sentenced yesterday in the Palmerston North District Court on a dangerous-driving charge, but failed to turn up. Police have now issued a warrant for his arrest. The court heard that Savage had veered towards two vehicles delivering supplies to a bakery in a real-life attempt to imitate a video game. He missed them but spectacularly lost control – skidding down the road, across a grass verge and hitting two trees.

Savage was thrown from the car – with its damaged driver's-side door – and broke bones in his left hand. "When he had seen two vehicles parked he thought he would do a move called a 'near miss' from a game called Need for Speed where the object's to get as close as you can to the cars without hitting them to earn 100 points," a police summary read.

"He stated that he went through with the move even though he knew it wasn't a game and there was no 100 points."

Need for Speed is a popular computer game where players drive some of the world's most expensive cars through city streets.

The summary says Savage and his partner started the night drinking at a friend's place in the Tararua town.

The partner wanted to go and Savage tried to drive away – later tests revealed he was not over the limit.

"[He] backed the car out of the driveway and forgot to close the driver's door. As he backed out it hit the house and bent backwards."

After arguing with his partner, Savage drove off at speed.