The father of six believed there was probably "a distraction" involved somewhere, but knows the matter is out of his hands.
He told the Herald he knew charges could be laid after such crashes and could only wait for the police investigation to be completed.
"I don't remember any of it ... I'm in the lap of the gods really."
Mr Earl was driving his 4WD back to Nelson after visiting Dunedin when the collision happened.
His ute and the trailer he was towing are still with the police.
The first thing he remembered after the accident was a noise and getting out of the vehicle.
"I don't know if the door flung open or whether I opened it. I was just gasping for air. I'd broken my sternum and didn't know if I was going to take a breath."
When he got out of the car he fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"I remember hearing them wailing from the other car and hoped there were not children in that car."
Mr Earl was told at the scene who the victims were, but knew them only from media reports.
"I spoke to Allan and he said he was bit sore but felt fine."
He had spoken to Mrs Hubbard in the ambulance as they were being taken to Oamaru Hospital, where she told him she was concerned about what happened, and then again in the hospital where they shared the same room, separated only by a curtain.
Even though doctors told him Mr Hubbard had been seriously injured, Mr Earl was still stunned to hear of the businessman's death.
"I was absolutely shellshocked."
Mr Earl said he was in a much better space now he was out of hospital and back with his family.
But he faces weeks of recovery. He cannot return to work as a tiler and plasterer for eight weeks because of concussion and said that along with the broken sternum he had developed pneumonia.
