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[stokeace]

so the crash which nearly killed richard hammond is to be screened.if he as an untrained driver at high speeds was idiotic enough to drive at nearly 300 miles an hour thats his lookout im pleased he survived but surely he was very foolish.

[Llamatron]

He is a trained driver.
And who said he was doing 300mph?

The whole thing was overseen by the team behind the car. If they hadn't been happy then it wouldn't have gone ahead.

[saxy_jag]

Yes, his driver training isn't talked about very often, but they all have to have appropriate training before undertaking these stunts. It's the equivalent of us mere mortals having to undergo specific health and safety training for our jobs.

Mind, he made me laugh on a clip the other day. He was in some sort of racing vehicle (not the dragster) on a track, heading for the verge, yelling, "oh my god!". Seems to be a fairly normal state of affairs for him.

[kempie]

The cause of the accident was a tyre that blew out as Hammond and his jet car were travelling 288 mph. No amount of driver training would have prevented the blowout or enabled him to control the vehicle.

[IggyB]

i guess you could say driving a 300mph car is quite foolish but then again so is climbing everest - but many people do these "foolish" thing as risk taking an a sense of adventure is part of what makes us human and you could argue that it has been the driving force of our development ... hammond was merely doing what some people thrive on e.g. pushing himself to his limits and trying to break records...
and as said he would have been fine except for a tyre blow out that whilst is a possibility no about of training or prep could over come

[stokeace]

i appreciate all your views but at the end of the day he has a wife and family he should have thought about the consequenses if the worst would have happened.now thats what i call irresponsible and foolish.

[rojash]

Presumably you think that astronauts, deep sea divers, firemen, test pilots, and all others who earn their livings by doing potentially dangerous things are very foolish, too.

[Coobeastie]

It was his 7th run of the day and apparently his reactions as the tyre blew out were on a par with a fighter jet pilots...so hardly untrained.

Yes it was a risk but as rojash says there are plenty of other professions where you could be killed on a daily basis.

[stokeace]

i know there are risks in everyday life you could get killed crossing the road but you could minimise the risks when you have got a wife and kids and driving at 288 mph shows disregarde for the people you love in my opinion i bet steve irwins wife and kid wish he hadnt have gone diving that fateful day and met a terrible death leaving behind his family in the name of entertainment.i rest my case.

[sarnieken]

I realise this discussion is probably closed now but are you suggesting that the dangerous tasks only be performed by single people with no family?
As was being said, you are at risk every day of being killed by everything from a drunk driver to a loose roof tile. Think I would rather go doing something exciting than something boring. The guy, as a living, tests and presents about cars. He has driven the 480 hp Bowler wildcat into a block of Ice in (funnily enough) Iceland, and he was recently shown driving a .5 mph steam roller. There are more odds of him dying by accidentally getting ran over by the roller than pranging the Wildcat. If we lived our lives with the risk that we might die if we did anything dangerous, we wouldn't get out of bed.....

[stokeace]

i think you are missing the point here what im trying to say is that he put his life on the line for entertainment im sure the widow of steve irwin would rather have him alive than dying for tv audiences.

[Toureman]

Just remember all men die but most have never lived !