BBC Report : Tyre + Nail = Crash

[theboyG]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6994946.stm

A BBC report into the Top Gear crash that nearly killed host Richard Hammond last September has blamed tyre damage.
The report attributes the accident to the "catastrophic disintegration" of the jet car's front tyre, probably caused by an object such as a nail.

But the 88-page document criticises the Top Gear team for not having anyone present "with sufficient knowledge to assess the adequacy" of safety checks.

Hammond crashed while driving at speeds up to 288mph at an airfield near York.

[MattD1zzl3]

What the hell does that mean?


Its impossible for something like that to be really "safe".

[Frederic]

Does s/o with "with sufficient knowledge to assess the adequacy" mean they send s/o up the runway searching for nails?

[avidvideo]

Originally Posted by Frederic

Does s/o with "with sufficient knowledge to assess the adequacy" mean they send s/o up the runway searching for nails?

Couldn't hurt. If you've ever been to a drag strip to see a racing event, you see the safety checks they do on the track are frequent and thorough. I've been to a number of events and watched safety crews at work. At the events I've been to, they position people up the track at intervals of roughly 50 to 100 feet apart to check for oil and debris after every pass. Once the pass is over, they hop over the concrete wall and examine their assigned sections for anything that doesn't belong. If there are any pieces of anything they remove it, or if any fluids spill onto the track they call for a cleanup crew to deal with it. On occasion, if somebody drops an engine in the middle of a pass (a common occurrence), it can take an hour or more to clean it up thoroughly to bring the track back to proper race conditions. That's why they don't show drag racing live.

[otispunkmeyer]

i think Radio 1 just confused this with hammonds shunt at the britcar.... im sure id heard them say that TG was being critised for hammonds crash, they believe it was caused by a nail.

i was like WTF it was a n00b racing incident in the dark!

heh i might not of been paying full attention tho coz i was watching the guy in the car behind pick his nose. its great how people think no one can see them once behind the wheel

[Ottobon]

more then likely i thought it was due to the adverse wear on the outside wheel, created by having to counter-steer into the wind-gusts. I mean at 314mph while constantly scrubbing doesn't really sound like something that would be "easy" for the tires to handle.

[richardburnsrally]

Originally Posted by Ottobon

more then likely i thought it was due to the adverse wear on the outside wheel, created by having to counter-steer into the wind-gusts. I mean at 314mph while constantly scrubbing doesn't really sound like something that would be "easy" for the tires to handle.

True, if you look at the footage Hammond has the wheel turned a lot while on his runs. On my dad's lawn mower the wheel is off center, it's very much to the right when the wheels are straight, but I assume that a jet car would have a more precise steering rack then my dad's lawn mower. So I assume the steering wheel, in direct relation to the wheels, was turned a lot on those runs, causing a lot of wear.

[Goose+]

In Lethal Weapon 2 a bad guy was killed by a nail gun.

[Ottobon]

You know what i just realized yet again scares the hell out of me, yet again. Its been how long, and how many tax dollars have been spent "investigating" Hammonds crash, and now all we hear is "It might be a nail". They might of well just asked a 5 year old what happened, probably would have gotten the same answer.


I loved my stay in England, but from over here it just looks like its run by a bunch of greedy politicians who have absolutely no common sense or grasp on reality. Please God prove me wrong.

[JC_not_clarkson]

Originally Posted by Ottobon

I loved my stay in England, but from over here it just looks like its run by a bunch of greedy politicians who have absolutely no common sense or grasp on reality. Please God prove me wrong.

Im sorry, I believe you might have Britain confused with the United States of Amerika lol

[Frederic]

I blame environmentalists for throwing a nail on the runway

[lueyyou]

Originally Posted by Frederic

I blame environmentalists for throwing a nail on the runway

Wouldn't put it past some of them, but let's assume the BBC kept the recording time and location a well-guarded secret against such threats!

Seriously though I think that if that was the conclusion they came to then its a bit of a waste. There's always going to be some danger driving in a jet-powered drag car close to 300 MPH, just like there's some danger when you are out driving any day of the week. Its not like Hammond hit someone at an intersection with the jet car so its silly to investigate it so much. It was pretty clear the tire was worn from the footage, what caused it we'll probably never know for sure. A nail? A stone? Counter-steering against the wind? Could be any of those.

However, I do find it strange that the crew didn't pick up the worn bit on the tire. You have to remember though that the tire does look different when its spinning compared to when its still. What was obvious to us looking at the footage might not have been obvious while inspecting it. I'm just glad there's some closure to it now and no one's been put in jail!

[tone76]

Originally Posted by lueyyou

. I'm just glad there's some closure to it now and no one's been put in jail!

What I'm most glad about is that Hammond survived!

[Ottobon]

Originally Posted by JC_not_clarkson

Im sorry, I believe you might have Britain confused with the United States of Amerika lol

not saying our politicians are better, but they usually inconvenience foreigners (aka Iraqis) and leave people here alone (not so much health, safety, Co2 nonesense as Europe in general)

[Frederic]

Originally Posted by Ottobon

not saying our politicians are better, but they usually inconvenience foreigners (aka Iraqis) and leave people here alone (not so much health, safety, Co2 nonesense as Europe in general)

What? Ever seen 'an inconvenient truth'?
Which is the country that produces the most CO2 and DOESN'T want to sign the Kyoto-protocol?
dixit wikipedia:

The United States was, as of 2005, the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels

Yes, it is the US!
Furthermore:
-a useless Iraq war which you can't win (remember Vietnam)
-your health system su**s even more, remember the aid everyone got when Katrina passed? Indeed, none because they were black!
-G. W. Bush is probably they most violent person in they world. Belgium doesn't feel they need to attack Iraq. Italy doesn't feel they need to attack Iraq. Europe, Russia, Japan don't feel they need to attack Iraq. So why in the name of all that's holy does the USA feel this need every now and then?

Don't get me started because I'll end up with a rant

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally Posted by Ottobon

You know what i just realized yet again scares the hell out of me, yet again. Its been how long, and how many tax dollars have been spent "investigating" Hammonds crash, and now all we hear is "It might be a nail". They might of well just asked a 5 year old what happened, probably would have gotten the same answer.


I loved my stay in England, but from over here it just looks like its run by a bunch of greedy politicians who have absolutely no common sense or grasp on reality. Please God prove me wrong.

happens all the time, in one of the recent diana inquests....they spent a couple of million and in the end all they could tell us was what we already knew anyway. yeah they do milk stuff for all its worth, but then again theres that many damn civil servants now that tey gotta find something to do to warrant their existance. this is why all this barn pot stuff comes out because tony blair hired too many idiots to be civil servants when really that number of them arent needed.

[JC_not_clarkson]

Originally Posted by Frederic

What? Ever seen 'an inconvenient truth'?
Which is the country that produces the most CO2 and DOESN'T want to sign the Kyoto-protocol?
dixit wikipedia:

Yes, it is the US!
Furthermore:
-a useless Iraq war which you can't win (remember Vietnam)
-your health system su**s even more, remember the aid everyone got when Katrina passed? Indeed, none because they were black!
-G. W. Bush is probably they most violent person in they world. Belgium doesn't feel they need to attack Iraq. Italy doesn't feel they need to attack Iraq. Europe, Russia, Japan don't feel they need to attack Iraq. So why in the name of all that's holy does the USA feel this need every now and then?

Don't get me started because I'll end up with a rant

Yes but on the plus side...
...
...
Sorry forgot there is no plus side about this place any more!

Tried to muster some positive American patriotism, and spirit, but it just wasn't there

Thanks dubya!

[Ottobon]

Originally Posted by Frederic

What? Ever seen 'an inconvenient truth'?
Which is the country that produces the most CO2 and DOESN'T want to sign the Kyoto-protocol?
dixit wikipedia:

I'm fine with everything you said about the Iraq war, you'll find most American citizens agree with you.

However why would we want to sign any protocol that would cripple both they economy and civil liberties (restrictions/extra taxes on what type of car you can buy, added speed limit baloney, etc) All for a theory which if you read actual science books has no real grounds to stand on. The simple fact that Al Gore got his correlations backwards should be enough to upset the theory, as well you would think that since in reality public transport is less efficient you guys would stop congesting your roads with buss lanes, and the fact that Greens blatantly mis-reference the words "solar winds" with "cosmic rays" so it looks like science is on their side should be enough to point out that this is worthless nonesence and that you guys should just drop it already, but you don't, and that suggests that theirs something more to it then "Co2." Whether its grief over the fall of communism or just well off white people trying to make themselves feel special i don't know. I do know this though, the Co2 movement is in no way environmental as much as it is political.