My son watches Top Gear sometimes so I get to see it now and again.
Top Gear DOES encourage fast driving. They often drive "fast" cars and brag about the top speeds, or 0-60 times and so on. The presenters often "drool" over how fast cars can go.
But while the cars on Top Gear are often driven by experienced drivers (Stig etc) or on roads that are safe, many youngsters DO try to copy what is done on Top Gear, but on unsafe roads, or with less experienced drivers, or with cars that don't have adequate brakes and other safety measures.
I realise people have always driven cars too fast, particularly youngsters, so it is not JUST Top Gear that is the problem. but the constant emphasis on Top Gear of top speeds, and fast cars, DOES encourage youngsters to drive too fast and take more risks on the road.
I realise it may not have been an issue in this situation, but I have often thought how many accidents has Top Gear caused by its constant "jokey" attitude to high speed in cars.
So unlike most of you I think Canary42 has a point.