LONDON (AFP) - A harrowing video taken by the victim of a fatal car crash in the moments before he died and uploaded by British police as a warning against drug-driving to other young drivers reached more than eight million views by Thursday (Oct 15).

Driver Kyle Careford, 20, and his friend Michael Owen, 21, who were both high on drugs, died instantly when the car they were in crashed at high speed into a church wall on a country road.

Mr Owen, who had a five-year-old daughter, took the video on his phone and it was posted on YouTube by Sussex police on Monday (Oct 12) with a warning to viewers and the consent of the victims' families.

"If all this stops one person from making the same mistake, then some good has come from showing this video," Mr Owen's mother, Kat, said.

"I really don't know why the boys chose to do what they did but I blame them both for the decisions they made on this night," she said.

The crash happened in Crowborough, a town near the coast south of London, in April, but the video was only released after an inquest into the deaths.

In the video, Mr Owen appears to be giving Mr Careford a driving lesson.

Mr Owen is heard saying just before the impact that the car was going at 145km per hour - three times more than the speed limit in the area.

The crunch of the impact can be heard, though not seen, and then a voice asks: "Can you hear me?"

Zac Hemming, Mr Careford's brother, said: "This footage or anything of its kind should never be recorded, let alone watched."

" However, despite the pain of it being broadcast by the media, we as a family just hope and pray that this will connect with at least one person out there," he said.

Sussex Police's YouTube page carries multiple videos, including local police officers discussing particular points of criminal law, statements by victims and footage of assaults.

The videos usually receive dozens or hundreds of views.