A Whitehorse man took the stand in his own defence Thursday to give his version of what happened the day his car rolled, severely injuring two of his friends.

Michael Schmidt is facing six charges related to the crash, including impaired driving causing bodily harm.

The Honda Civic's passengers, Jessica Frotten and Michael Sanderson, were ejected from the car on the Alaska Highway near the Takhini River Bridge, on their way towards Haines Junction. Frotten suffered a broken back and is in a wheelchair.

Schmidt testified he woke up at 10:30 a.m. the morning of Dec. 14, 2009 after having consumed about a six-pack of beer the night before at a party with Sanderson.

The 30-year-old said he drank about a quarter of a cup of coffee before realizing it contained liqueur.

At around noon, the pair left Schmidt's and made a quick visit to Frotten's before agreeing to meet up later for lunch.

After sharing a pitcher of beer at the Airport Chalet over lunch, the trio headed to the Yukon Brewing Company, where Frotten was employed, to pick up some beer.

Yukon Supreme Court has previously heard that the group picked up a 15-pack as well as a case of 40 defective cans.

Schmidt testified he did not feel impaired after lunch, adding that he had eaten a large burger and French fries.

Following lunch, Schmidt testified, he did have two or three two-ounce samples of beer to drink from the brewery before leaving at approximately 3:30 – about 30 minutes before the car went off the road.

According to testimony from multiple witnesses as well as Schmidt's own statement to police at the time of the crash, Schmidt originally insisted the last drink he had that day was from the pitcher of beer.

This new information could call into question the validity of tests done to determine Schmidt's blood alcohol level.

Breathalyzer results show Schmidt's blood alcohol level was 0.07, just below the legal limit, about three hours following the crash.

RCMP expert Brian Image testified Thursday that based on his calculations, Schmidt's blood alcohol level would have been over the legal limit when the car rolled.

However, Image said his calculations were only accurate if Schmidt had not drunk any alcohol in the 30 minutes leading up to the crash.

Prosecutor Bonnie Macdonald accused Schmidt of changing his testimony and tailoring his answers to counter the prosecution's case.

Schmidt insisted he didn't consider a small amount of liquor like that would make a difference, and was very anxious following the crash.

Schmidt told the court he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

He admitted to being in a bit of a hurry to make it to a friend's house in Mendenhall before dark.

He estimated he was going around 100 km/h at the time of the crash.

Frotten, who was the first witness to testify Monday morning, estimated the car was going at least 140 km/h.

The speed limit in the area is 90 km/h.

No one asked him to slow down, Schmidt said.

"If anyone had asked me to slow down, I would have immediately,” he said.

Schmidt testified he sped up and slowed down frequently to avoid bad parts of the road, which contained many frost heaves.

Schmidt said he was driving down a long stretch of straight road with the music playing and Frotten in the passenger's seat sitting cross-legged and turned sideways to face him.

Frotten was not wearing the shoulder strap of her seatbelt, he said.

The road was clear of any snow, ice and debris, he added.

At the time he noticed a small set of humps, he took his foot of the gas and let the car decelerate in fifth gear.

The car went over the bumps and drifted into the left lane.

Schmidt said he tried to give a little bit of gas but the car slid out of control into the ditch.

At that point, Schmidt testified, his airbag deployed and the car rolled several times, ending up upside down.

Schmidt, who was wearing his seatbelt, exited the car through the driver-side window.

Initially he was confused as to why there were no longer people in the vehicle, he said.

Schmidt testified he eventually found Frotten lying face-up in the snow about seven metres from the snow.

"It looked like she was dying to me,” he said.

Macdonald questioned Schmidt's driving prior to the crash.

At one point, the lawyer asked if he had been watching Frotten in the passenger's seat when the car went off the road.

"There's a pretty girl sitting next to you.”

"That's very sexist,” Schmidt snapped back.

Schmidt, who has been driving since he was 16 or 17 years old and lived in the Yukon most his life, testified he was paying attention to the road and slowing down when necessary to avoid the frost heaves.

His car had high-quality winter tires, he said.

Schmidt was unable to recall how much he weighed at the time of the crash, a number for experts to use to estimate how much he may have had to drink prior to the crash.

His licence, which had been renewed seven months prior to the crash, lists his weight as 81 kg while the prisoner record completed on the day of his arrest has his weight as 73 kg.

Schmidt told the court he doesn't own a scale and can't recall if he gave those numbers to officials.

The trial is scheduled to wrap up today with the testimony of two final defence testimonies, followed by the lawyers' closing summations.

Justice Ron Veale is presiding.