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Top Gear's Clarkson branded 'irresponsible' over speed

30.01.07

Jeremy Clarkson and the BBC are at the centre of a new row after the controversial Top Gear programme was accused of sending out an "irresponsible" message that speed does not kill.

Road safety charity Brake said the BBC presenter "glamorised" speeding in his comments on Sunday night about co-presenter Richard Hammond's dragster crash - and will be making a formal complaint to the BBC.

Dramatic footage of Hammond's 288mph accident was shown for the first time on Sunday night's Top Gear.

Aired on the first show of the new series, it revealed the 36-year-old father of two's miraculous escape when he crashed while filming a stunt for the programme in September.

But Dianne Ferreira, spokeswoman for Brake, said: "Jeremy Clarkson said on yesterday's programme "speed kills" and then pointed at Richard Hammond as if to say 'speed doesn't kill".

"This glamorised speeding. The programme is watched by impressionable young people, many of whom who have just passed their test and they are mad about cars.

"They are easily influenced and remarks like that are very irresponsible and could tempt them to speed."

Brake's head of education Jools Townsend added: " Clarkson's comment was highly irresponsible and offensive to anyone who has been bereaved or injured at the hands of a speeding driver."

He said:"A shockingly disproportionate number of young male drivers are dying on our roads and it is highly irresponsible for the BBC to allow Top Gear, with its target audience of young males, to openly make light the deadly act of speeding."

He said Brake will be compiling evidence of "irresponsible dialogue" and footage from Top Gear to present to the newly-formed BBC Trust which represents the interest of the licence fee-paying public.

The Scottish Green Party also joined the attack, demanding Clarkson publicly apologise for the comments and accusing him of "childish arrogance".

Party leader Robin Harper MSP said: "Jeremy Clarkson should publicly say sorry. The glamorisation of driving at high speeds is unacceptable. People die on our roads every day and speed is often the main culprit.

"Mr Clarkson's almost childish arrogance contrasts sharply with such a serious problem."

However other road safety groups disagreed with Brake's assessment and said the "speed kills" message - which has led to more than 7,000 speed cameras across the UK, was itself seriously flawed.

It is not speed - but inappropriate speed, which is the killer, says the campaign group 'Safe Speed'.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

The same article on the Daily Mail website:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Jeremy Clarkson will no doubt make some sort of public reponse to these claims. He has quoted SafeSpeed information in the past (to Ladyman for example) so perhaps you might want to arm him with the official DfT stats on accidant contributory factors so he can re-affirm what a load of cobblers these people are talking.

So you don't actually have to say anything just appear as if to say.

I wonder how this works in court.


"you have the right to remain silent, anything you as if to say can and will be used in evidence"

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Speed camera policy Kills

Fair play, Clarkson was entirely correct.

In this instance speed wasn't the cause of the accident, neither did it result in death.

So speed didn't kill.

His retort is brilliant...

"Why were they watching?"

Why oh why do the self confessed 'experts' at Brake never learn to just keep quiet, stop poking their noses in and stop spouting drivel. Honestly any old excuse for them to get a bit of free publicity, but what for, as nobody with any sense listens them anyway.
There was no difference in what Hammond did and drag racing.Don't hear her complaining about that(yet) it was not done on a public road either - do you think she missed that little point.as i said any old excuse.

Page no longer available........nannies at the bbc taken it down have they??????

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"Safety" Scamera Partnerships;
Profitting from death and misery since 1993.

Believe nothing- Question everything.

No, just been moved, it's here:

http://www.topgear.com/blogs/planettopgear/019-why-were-they-watching/

The comment referring to young drivers -


"They are easily influenced and remarks like that are very irresponsible and could tempt them to speed."

Is it me or is this not a patronising ageist comment?

So what about games like Grand Theft Auto and the Need for Speed series - shall we complain at them cos they involve speeding and are often played by young people?

I recon if the lentil bregade got hold of a copy of GTA they'd actually die right there and then...

There's an idea...

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

I was thinking about the pixar film "CARS"

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Speed camera policy Kills

They've embarassed themselves, yet again, plain and simple.

"How dare someone declare 'the world is flat' in a sarcastic tone!"

If they climbed back in their box with their righteous indignation, and kept their necks wound in until such time as they have any shred of evidence that...



...then they would do a service to road safety, instead of misdirecting the grief of so many bereaved families in an unproductive direction.

A few years ago this lot would have signed up to the 'viewers and listeners association' remember that lot, with their glorious leader?

Mary W.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Ah.. The blessed Mrs Whitehouse...

She who, having turned on the radio one day and heard "tits like coconuts...", turned the thing off in disgust and fired off a vitriolic letter to the BBC complaints department. Then received a reply telling her that if she'd only kept the radio on for a few more seconds she'd have learned that "sparrows like breadcrumbs" as well..

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"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

Another point, perhaps.

Have a look at the audience at the TG Studio.......

Not exactly over-populated by young males. Is it.

Always looks to me like a good, wide representation of all ages, creeds, and genders there - all enjoying a light entertainment show that happens to concentrate on cars.

Would it be churlish to suggest that if Brothers Hammond was injured playing football with a Toyota Aygo, then Brake would be howling for city cars and bladder kicking to be banned

Sheesh.

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Simon

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Simon

Good point about the audience make up.

The audience is mainly 30 to 60 year olds maybe 70:30 m:f.

No obvious chav's or youngsters, most of them dress 'like your dad' etc etc. Asdide fomr the odd aston or 911, most when questioned, seem to have fairly normal cars. In fact the whole audience is full of 'normal' people. Just the sort of middle class, normal folk that are so despised by the nannyistas.

Clarkson made a similar point in TG magazine a while back.

I wasn't being flippant about the Mary Whitehouse thing, there have always been people of a nannying pursuasion within this country but they've always been something of a target for ridicule. What's happened now is that the 'brake' type adgenda has coincided with the 'guardianista' pursuasion to form this unholy alliance!