At about 12.30am on Friday, while his children Matthew, Luke and Lilly slept, a motorist lost control on Springs Rd, Hornby, and the car smashed into Mr Jayet's fence, as well as his neighbours' fence and house.
Two rubbish bins on the side of the road were also destroyed.Mr Jayet said he slept through the sound of the impact but woke later to see the damage.
He said the car would have crashed into his children's bedrooms if the fence wasn't there to slow it down.
"All I can say is I'm thankful because it would have killed us if the fence wasn't there," he said.
Mr Jayet's flatmate Oksana Cottrell said she heard the car hitting the fence and "thought it was an earthquake to begin with".She went outside, checked if the driver was okay and gave him some water and a blanket. She said it appeared he had been drinking.
"He kept saying sorry," she said.
The driver was transported to Christchurch hospital with moderate injuries.
Police, a fire engine and ambulance were called to the crash.
Mr Jayet said it took two tow trucks to remove the car from the property next door.
He said a brick dislodged from one of the fence's narrowly missed a window next to where his neighbour was sitting.
The damage to his fence will cost "thousands of dollars" of fix, said Mr Jayet.
