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BBC report: Hammond crash 'avoidable'

14/09/2007

Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond's life-threatening high-speed crash last year could have been avoided, a BBC report has concluded.

The final occupational risk management report into the incident at Elvington Airfield on September 20th 2006 concludes that a "penetrating object such as a nail" entered one of the tyres, causing the 288mph crash.

It says there is a "distinct possibility" an examination of the tyres before each run would have detected the object's presence, while the investigation's tyre expert believes such an examination would have been "likely" to spot the "area of weakness on the front offside tyre".

"Although the bulge was evident during the penultimate run, it was the tyre expert's opinion that it would be unreasonable to expect Richard Hammond to visually notice it, or feel it through the steering," the report adds.

The BBC's 87-page report says the company responsible for safety checks on the day was PrimeTime Land Speed Engineering.

It follows the Health and Safety Executive's own report into the incident, which suggested the BBC's risk assessment was flawed but had nevertheless probably saved Hammond's life.

Hammond suffered what doctors described as a "significant brain injury" when the jet-powered dragster he was driving flipped upside-down.

The pace of his recovery surprised doctors. Last weekend Hammond was involved in a further, lighter scrape when his BMW 330 DTi Sport skidded off a racetrack during a 24-hour endurance test.