Liability in Hammond crash falls on dragster maker, BBC
Britain's Health and Safety Executive faulted both the BBC and the makers of the Vampire dragster, Primetime Landspeed Engineering, for Richard Hammond's dastardly crash. The HSE said that the risk assessment that Primetime gave to the BBC didn't take into account that Hammond didn't have the necessary skills to pilot the car in an emergency. So the BBC, according to the HSE, should have given Hammond enough time to learn how to drive the car and also should have challenged the risk assessment it was given, but it did not.
Hammond crashed the dragster at 288 mph and spent five weeks in the hospital with brain injuries. He has since fully recovered. Neither the BBC nor Primetime, though, will be prosecuted.
[Source: Drive.com.au]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ken 3:03PM (6/25/2007)
Glad to see this isn't turning into a sloppy legal battle.
All parties understood the risks of doing something like this - that said, I am surprised they let Hammond drive this car, not exactly the same thing as James driving the Veyron.
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paul34 3:36PM (6/25/2007)
Absolutely - I don't want to even *think* about how ridiculous this would have gotten in this country (United States).
Regardless, though... I wonder what exactly anyone could have done in his place? Training or not, what exactly does one do at 288 MPH and a tire blow out?
Will 3:21PM (6/25/2007)
I was very pleased that Hampster made it out ok. Well, eventually. Bravo to his family, Clarkson, and Mays to support their friend when he really needed it.
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Wraith 4:13PM (6/25/2007)
I don't know that "dastardly" is the word you're looking for.
Main Entry: das-tard-ly
Pronunciation: -lE
Function: adjective
1 : COWARDLY
2 : characterized by underhandedness or treachery
synonym see COWARDLY
- das-tard-li-ness noun
(Merriam-Webster)
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Vinny 4:47PM (6/25/2007)
That had to be the most difficult article-title I've read this year.
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tpp 5:19PM (6/25/2007)
I thought it crashed because a blown tyre? How could anyone, even someone with a lot of training could've prevented a crash at those speeds if a tyre blows up?
If the tyre was somehow defective, maybe someone could be "responsible" for it, but I just think it was a tragic accident.
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Ray 11:18PM (6/25/2007)
Hammond said that whoever was reviewing the tape of the crash (before this investigation) remarked that he had the reaction time of a fighter pilot when the tire blew. I don't know who Health & Safety thinks would have been more qualified than that.
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Don 10:34PM (6/26/2007)
Top Gear sucks.
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