General Chat
Q:
Very sad - I hope he can recover.
Top Gear's Hammond out of intensive care
Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:55 AM BST165
by Matthew Jones
LONDON (Reuters) - Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was transferred out of intensive care on Friday as doctors said he was making "satisfactory progress" after suffering brain injuries in a high-speed crash.
"This morning he was moved out of intensive care onto a high dependency unit," said a spokesman at Leeds General Infirmary. "He is making satisfactory progress."
No further details about the presenter's condition were being released at the request of Hammond's family.
The 36-year-old was badly injured on Wednesday when he crashed a jet-powered dragster as he accelerated towards 300 mph in a feature being filmed for the show. He suffered what his doctors have called a significant brain injury as a result of the accident at an RAF airfield near York.
Although doctors remain concerned about his condition they have said they are "reasonably optimistic that he will make a good recovery."
The accident is being jointly investigated by police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
An HSE spokesman said on Friday its officers were focusing on the events that led-up to the incident -- the planning for the dragster dash, the risk assessment undertaken and whether Hammond received any special training with jet-powered cars.
"We will look at the film footage, but at the moment we are concentrating on what activity took place prior to the accident," he said.
Police have taken the Vampire jet-car away for forensic examination and have been looking at the state of the track. Media reports have said a burst tyre may have caused the crash.
The BBC in a statement said it was co-operating with the investigations. It could face possible prosecution if the HSE finds proper safety precautions were not taken.
Hammond had been filming at the Elvington airfield in what media reports said was an attempt to break the British land speed record of 300.3 mph, when the accident happened.
But a spokesman for the car's sponsor, auto accessory maker Thule, has said that although timers were in place to record Hammond's speed, it would not have qualified as an official record attempt.
Whatever the outcome of the investigations, it may be that Top Gear in its current format could be axed if criticism mounts about the show's daredevil stunts.
The series, which attracts over 6 million viewers in Britain as well as millions more abroad, was criticised for being "obsessed with acceleration" by a group of MPs in 1999.
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A:
That should be an easy investigation for blaming "preparation". No way in hell that I would ever think of accelerating to 300mph on a short runway environment unless I had a pair of wings attached.
It's one thing to be "obsessed with acceleration". It's another to not plan for rapid deceleration.
Hope he heals quickly.
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The car damage really doesn't look that bad compared to some of the wrecks I've seen in person at the track and on TV where people walk away uninjured.
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12.804 @ 107.26 mph on crappy street tires with Dual SU Powered 2.9L Stroker!
ZCAR.COM member since Aug 1998
A:
Too bad it couldn't have been Jeremy Clarkson instead. Get well Mr. Hammond.
God must love stupid people, he made SOOOOO many of them!
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Bubbles technology at work here.
Dave
12/70 240Z, L-28, flat-tops, N-42 head, N-33 intake, MSA 10-2002 cam, ZX ignition, early 5-speed, R-180,4:11 gears, 903 Blue paint.
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Poor Hamster, hope he can be well for most of the up coming season.
SHIFT_PPSSHHHTT... I love it, I love it
1973 240z, 2.8L Turbo, BRE Style
z31 ECCS and MAF swap
Spooled Up Racing ®
http://spooledupracing.tripod.com/home.htm
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aww.. hamster :(
F54/P90a w Megasquirt and a Holset Hy35W
3" hand made exhuast, Large NPR intercooler, big injectors, Tokico Illuminas, Arizona Z Springs, BIG sway bars, Innovate Wideband
www.putfile.com/proxlamus
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I'm afraid this may be the end of Top Gear.
The BBC already gives them a hard time, so they may just cancel the show. :(
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1976 Datsun 280Z 2+2:
-'81 L28ET with 1984 Z31 ECCS
-'81 Turbo snowflakes
-205/60/15 BFG G-Force Sports
-Tokico springs and HP shocks
Post Edited (Sep 22, 12:42pm)
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Tragic accident......but I'm not surprised......this show does not spend top money when it comes to track time. I have often seen episodes where they are test driving a car for the first time on an empty rainy track. Empty being the key word people.
This whole world smells bad, I'd buy another if I had
back what I paid for another mother@#$%@# in a motorcade
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I really hope they don't cancel the show over this
Get well Richard
'1996 Black NA 2+0
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I think he must have had a brain injury before the wreck.
1972 240z w/L28, tokico shocks and springs, and a 5 speed waiting. Also running high performance ultra mega blinker fluid, that's at least an extra 50hp to the wheels.
1987 Toyota Supra Turbo 5-speed. Belongs to me until my friend get's back from Iraq.
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A:
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A:
Was I driving like an idiot, Hammond asks
By Marcus Leroux
Just 30 hours after his 300mph crash, the Top Gear presenter spoke to his colleague Jeremy Clarkson
THE moment that Richard Hammond opened his eyes, spoke and took the first steps since his 300mph car crash was described by his Top Gear co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson last night.
“In the wee small hours [late on Thursday night] Richard Hammond suddenly sat up in bed, opened his eyes and asked what had happened,” Clarkson said. He had replied: “You’ve been in a car accident.” Hammond asked whether he had been driving stupidly “before getting out of bed and walking, shakily, to the lavatory”, Clarkson writes in today’s Sun.
Yesterday another co-presenter, James May, visited Hammond, 36, in hospital and had a brief conversation with him. “I’m not a doctor but I am his mate and I believe that deep inside the Hammond I know is perfectly intact,” May said.
The plan had been for May to drive the dragster on Wednesday, when the crash had happened, but he was replaced by Hammond because he had another commitment.
The accident took place during an attempt to break the British land-speed record in a jet-powered car at Elvington airfield, near York.
Yesterday Leeds General Infirmary said: “Richard Hammond is making satisfactory progress.” His status has been downgraded to “stable” from “serious but stable” and he has been moved from intensive care to a high-dependency unit.
Clarkson also writes in the newspaper of the immediate aftermath of the crash. After a few minutes of unconsciousness Hammond said: “I want to do a piece to camera.” Hammond began fighting with the ambulancemen who tried to prevent him, Clarkson writes.
The BBC announced yesterday that it was postponing the new series of The Best of Top Gear, which was to have started tomorrow week as a precursor to the series for which Hammond was filming.
Police and Health and Safety Executive inspectors were continuing to investigate the crash to discover what went wrong and who, if anybody, is to blame. The BBC could be prosecuted and given an unlimited fine if it is found not to have taken the necessary steps to ensure Mr Hammond’s safety.
The Health and Safety Executive said that inspectors were looking at the BBC’s planning and preparation of the record attempt and that the police were examining Vampire, the dragster that Hammond had been driving. It would be weeks before the investigation was concluded, a spokesman said.The inspectors will call on experts to help them to determine whether mechanical failure was an element in the crash.
The spokesman said that the inspectors’ decision on whether to prosecute would depend on whether they believed that the BBC did not take adequate steps to prevent the accident and, if adequate steps were not taken, on the level of negligence.
A group of motoring enthusiasts have raised almost £55,000 in donations and gift aid for the helicopter ambulance that took Hammond to hospital. Wellwishers on the internet forum pistonheads.com set up a webpage (www.justgiving.com/phrichardhammond ) so that contributions could be made to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity. They had hoped to cover the cost of Hammond’s flight to hospital, but the fundraising target has now been updated to the equivalent of 151 flights.
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