Richard Hammond - Critically Ill

Driving a dragster at 300 mph has to be classified as dangerous!

As does racing off road vehicles off road at 70mph..etc

It was his job and he must have loved it.


I wish him a speedy recovery..
 
Indeed, if you live the dream..... Sometimes it bites yer bum. Look at Frank Williams. Hope he makes a speedy and good recovery and can continue life as normal afterwards. Brain injuries can be terrible things.
 
Take a comparison of Steve Irwin and Richard Hammond.

Both were hurt (and Steve killed as we all know) doing something they loved to make entertaining television for other people's enjoyment.

I don't recall anyone suggesting that Steve Irwin was selfish in this way?

Maybe Hammond doing what he loves doing supports his family in fine style and he has fun doing it, and they have accepted the risks of doing so?

Of course this is speculation on my part... perhaps what really happened is his wife went to the hospital to say "I told you so, but do you ever listen?". Perhaps he got up in the morning thinking "Oh no, I have to go an spend 4 hours driving a porsche just to make 80 seconds of footage. Again. I wish I had a nice cushy desk job".

But I doubt it. I would think that in any serious relationship the partners would support each other in their dreams and aspirations, even if they're not shared.
 
david,
i wouldn't call you an arrogant person - i dont; know you. however i would call the statement you made arrogant - you have no idea what his personal circumstances are and how his family feel about his work. of course with 20/20 hindsight it's all too easy to say 'you don;t want to do thaaaat....' but he's made numerous series of programmes with equally or more dangerous situations in them before this one without misshap. the hse would have been involved, he'd have been wearing a race harness, fire suit, helmet, neck brace and as has been said ems was on standby.
if you read his profile on the bbc website the guy is living his dream, i'm sure his family understand that and support him wholeheartedly.
 
Isaac Sibson said:
Wow, how pleasant people are...

1) How do you know what hammond's driving credentials are or aren't? He may not have been a racing driver, but there's plenty of very good drivers out there who aren't.

2) Maybe his family supported him in his wishes to do such things?

As for wishing ill on others, that's rather a poor attitude I think.

I hope he makes a full recovery.
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"How do you know what hammond's driving credentials are or aren't?"
You've seem him drive have you? then you'll know! He's no Tiff Nidel! Also I recall him smacking a Boler Wildcat into a (rather large) rock, and managing to roll a Bedford Rascal (that should hae been a warning! :) ).

Last time I checked he was no fighter pilot or qualified to operate a jet propelled vehicles, I read they are very difficult to control and require specialist knowledge and skill, its more than just driving skill he needed, need to know what to do when things go wrong.

As for wishing ill of him, no way, I wish, I hope he gets well real soon, I do, its a great Top Gear presenter and even better on Brainiac, he just needs to realise he's not super hero! :)
 
Hex Spurt said:
I'm not convinced Hammond's risk was a big as some people are making out.

Every day those of us who drive, cycle or walk near roadtraffic make a much bigger leap of faith.
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So true, but I don't have a jet engine strapped to my bike (yet! can't find one of ebay).

Isaac Sibson said:
On a happier note, his condition is now "Stable".
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That is very good news indeed, the brain has a remarkable way of repairing itself given enough time.
 
I think there's a lot of confusion between risk, danger and difficulty. For instance the motorsport I do is (I think) significantly more difficult than driving a jet car, especially at the relatively modest speeds and wide open spaces of this case, but rather less dangerous.

FWIW I have difficulty reconciling the visual impression of the accident site with '280mph'. And that car regularly does 280-300mph on drag strips as entertainment. So there was no 'boldly going' going on here. It'll be interesting to see what reports emerge. I suspect 'shit happens' followed by 'unlucky not to walk away'.

Paul
 
Just seen the footage on the news showing him walking :)

Good to see.
 
Sadly I missed the Top Gear show on Sunday, but BBC two has a clip of the crash, which I hadn't see before.

Clip from BBC Two Top Gear Show

I have changed my opinion of him, I thought he was just another Tele pretty boy, but for someone who can go through that, then come back to the same job, watch the tape and talk you though what happened shows great bravery IMHO, Top marks to him, he's got more balls that I gave him credit for!
 
I quite enjoyed the show. No changes at all to the format of the show. JC still as big a dick as he's always been. Hammond was a little "reserved" at times. I'm sure he'll be back to his normal self. The first time he gets in a fast car should be interesting.
 
Apparently Clarkson really is a pompous tw*t off camera. A good friend of mine tests cars alongside him on Top Gear and reckons it's not just an act.
He says Hammond's a top bloke though.
 
I always think of Bub whenever I see Clarkson - so his comment is serendipitous! ;-)
 

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