A police driver in a hurry to get to a meeting reached speeds of 100mph when he lost control of his patrol car and smashed into a tree.
Shane Powell, an advanced driver for Staffordshire Police, closed his mind to the risk despite his passenger - a constable - saying he felt sick and asking him to "take it easy", Stafford Crown Court heard.
A witness who saw the Volvo estate patrol car just before it crashed thought it was on an emergency call as it sped along country roads in bad weather.
Powell (38), of Dickenson Road, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, had pleaded guilty in March to dangerous driving.
Sentencing him yesterday, Judge Simon Tonking ordered him to 100 hours community service, 12 months community rehabilitation and disqualified him for two years after which he must take an extended driving licence test.
He had nine penalty points put on his licence and was told to pay #1,450 prosecution costs.
Simon Worlock, prosecuting, said Powell, a constable who had passed his advanced driving test nine years ago, skidded on an eight foot-long stretch of mud coming from a field, made a 180 degree turn before ploughing through a small wood and hitting a tree.
"He had left Burton-upon-Trent on the A515 on his way back for a meeting in Stafford and reached the nearby village of Newborough at some speed on the B5234 which becomes progressively narrow. He was travelling between 73 and 96 miles an hour," said Mr Worlock.
"He accelerated hard and seemed to be driving too fast for the slippery road conditions. Just before reaching Abbotts Bromley, the patrol car was travelling between 69 and 101 miles an hour on a road with left and right bends going uphill.
"His passenger, Constable Thomas Marshall, said in a statement he felt the Volvo was being pushed to its very limits. He made the point that he felt sick and asked Powell to 'take it easy'."
Mr Worlock said the car was travelling at 87mph and had picked up a considerable amount of frozen mud on its wheels before it went left and right, and ended up in a wooded area and hit a tree.
"He was not driving carefully on a dull, cold day with Pc Marshall who was an experienced and advanced driver, to get back to Stafford for a meeting. The vehicle, which was written off, was examined by an experienced investigator who decided that in the seconds leading up to the accident the vehicle was travelling at 94 miles an hour. At that speed Powell would have had 1.5 to 1.8 seconds to react to the mud on the road.
"There was little time for evasive action."
Powell, who joined Staffordshire Police 17 years ago after leaving the Army, would appear before a misconduct tribunal where his future in the force would be considered, added Mr Worlock.
Zaheer Afzal, defending, said: "He was taking a path of very high risk. He accepts by his plea that he made a mistake.
"He has an exemplary record. He has provided so much for this country and we should stop and take a look at this with compassion. He has learned a salutory lesson."
Judge Simon Tonking told Powell: "You drove from Burton to Stafford over a considerable distance at speeds, which at the end, proved well beyond the car. It is quite plain that this was a serious piece of dangerous driving."
