/ Rob Beschizza / 3:27 pm Thu Aug 4, 2011

Rowan Atkinson reportedly injured in crash

Fresh from setting the fastest time ever recorded by a celebrity on the BBC's Top Gear, Blackadder and Mr. Bean star Rowan Atkinson reportedly received "minor injuries" in a car accident today. Hollie-Rae Merrick writes:
Emergency services were called to the A605 at Haddon at 7.30pm following reports that a man had been involved in a single car collision – believed to be a McLaren F1. On arrival, paramedics found that the car had left the road.
Rowan Atkinson in hospital following crash [Evening Star]

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  1. Emergency services were called to the A605 at Haddon at 7.30pm following reports that a man had been involved in a single car collision – believed to be a McLaren F1. On arrival, paramedics found that the car had left the road. Mr Atkinson has been taken to Peterborough District Hospital, however it is believed the hospital have had a power cut. His injuries are believed to be minor, however this has not been confirmed.

    That’s three beliefs in four sentences, with no confirmation.  News reports these days might be just a tad too speedy.

    Hope he’s okay, and please keep Dr “Minibrain” House far away from him.

  2.  Was he brushing his teeth, shaving, and changing his clothes while he was driving from the back seat?

  5. And to be pedantic he didn’t “set the top speed ever recorded”, he went went around the Top Gear track in the shortest recorded time. There’s a big difference

  7. I need to go pull the news, but this isn’t the first time he’s had an oopsie in his F1 – A few years ago I believe he rear-ended someone in London

  8. There’s a golf course right along there. I hope he didn’t get struck by a wayward ball-dric.

    No, really. I hope he’s okay.

  11. He was distracted from trying to run the three-wheeled car off the road.

    Get better soon Rowan!  We love you!

  15. I read this somewhere and its always stuck with me.

    “At the end of the day, your confidence makes you fast. Your fear keeps you on the road”

    … or something close to that.

    anyway, all this means is Mr. Bean is F’ING FEARLESS!!!

  17. First off all, I hope everyone is ok and all injuries are minor and quickly cleared up. 

    That said, JESUS CHRIST DUDE CRASHED A MCLAREN F1! NOOOOOOOO!

  18. That was the sweetest-looking lap of the Top Gear track by a celebrity I’ve ever seen. He was so tidy. Almost anyone else going nearly that fast would have been squealing and sliding all over the place… Atkinson’s precision verges on surgical; he made it look like he wasn’t even trying.

    I remember being mortified when he broke his F1 in ’99; assuming he had way more money than driving skill and wishing there was some way to protect glorious artifacts like the F1 from rich loonies, but having seen this… Atkinson owns the benefit of the doubt.

    Dude can steer.

    1. Well said, I could not agree more. After watching many celebs do this lap over the years, I have to say that Rowan’s lap is friggin’ EPIC. It was so tight, smooth and controlled. It truly was beautiful. It really makes me want to get out there on that track and give it a try myself to fully appreciate what the times actually mean. I hope he is ok…

      1. Certainly the tidiest, least dramatic, most precise lap I’ve seen.  The guy knows his stuff.  Puts me in mind of another guy you might not have expected to be among the speediest, Brian Johnson, singer of AC/DC, who turned in the second fastest lap in the old Chevrolet Lacetti of 1:45.9.

        Like Atkinson, Johnson turns out to be a lifelong car nut, and he’s been doing a fair amount of racing over the last decade or so.  It’s a treat to watch the calm these guys bring to the experience, Atkinson with his muttered self-criticism and Johnson singing old Louis Jordan and Dooley Wilson numbers, while they zip around the track.

        And it’s weird that Johnson’s lap looked faster, simply because there was a bit more body-roll in the Chevy, and a bit more violence in the driving.  (He catches a bit of air after Gambon.)  But Atkinson’s looked like he was simply coasting around, not in any hurry at all… and cleans everyone’s clock.  Damn, that Blackadder can drive!

    2. I must agree with Kimmo… Rowan looked as skillful and smooth as anyone could in an underpowered, soft-suspension Kia.

      Best wishes for a speedy recovery (no pun intended)!

  19. Just wanted to say in case anyone wasn’t planning on watching the interview – I’ve seen all of the episodes of Top Gear (since the “reboot” in 2002 or whenever) and this was easily one of the top, if not the very best, interview. He’s hilarious and really rather interesting. They talk about his F1 (the one he crashed) a bit, too.

    But yeah, his new movie looks dreadful :)

    1. I would like to see Mr Bean laid to rest, and Blackadder dusted off.

      I’d like to see Mr. Bean and Blackadder in a cage match.

      1. Now that I think about it, I wonder why I’ve never seen them in the same room before…

      3. Well, judging by their records, I think Mr Bean would be the favorite to win, even if by accident.

  21. Fortunately for  Mr Atkinson, Tony Robinson was strapped to the bonnet cushioning the impact.

  22. Reads as a shoulder injury, so not life-threatening. Now whether his heart holds out when he sees the repair bill for the F1…

  23. There seems to be a line drawn in the sand here. Do you make a Mr Bean reference or a Blackadder reference?
    It’d be interesting to see the breakdown of that choice in nationality as well. I get the impression Blackadder is a treat more known and revered among Europeans.

  24. But where would Blackadder go after the Somme? Burma? Cyprus? Northern Ireland? Basra? Or, 21st century City of London?
    Actually, that last one I can imagine would work very well – Blackadder as a ruthless, tyrannical hedge fund manager. Baldrick a clueless Shoreditch hipster.

  25. I can imagine the police report now:…Next to the wrecked car, Mr Atkinson was found lying unconscious wearing a giant turkey on his head…

  26. No one’s made a Thin Blue Line or Johnny English reference yet.  I can’t think of any either, but thought I’d point it out.

  27. I LOVE this show, but the hijinks these three go through are often dangerous, and I’ve been expecting that one of these days, one of them, or one of the stars or politicos competing on their track for the lowest times, to be killed or seriously injured.

    Maybe this is a wake-up call for them…

    1. Perhaps you missed the time when, a couple years ago, Richard Hammond crashed (through no fault of his own – a wheel came off) a jet-powered dragster and suffered a massive head injury which incapacitated him for months and nearly killed him? They showed it on the show later after he’d recovered.

      James May also was knocked out in an episode last winter, I think when they were in Syria or someplace like that, and was hospitalized. I’m guessing they receive minor injuries (cuts and scrapes, pulled muscles, etc.) rather frequently as well (when they’re caught on film they always show these kinds of things).

      I imagine they’re insured to the hilt and are fully aware that they do dangerous things. I also think the show is structured and edited to make things appear more wild and crazy than they actually are. But, everyone who loves cars accepts and respects that they very easily can kill you.

      Also, the “star in a reasonably priced car” bit is in a “reasonably priced car” for a reason – obviously sticking these people in a supercar would be a disaster, and on an open track with a slowish car and the safety equipment they use I really can’t imagine any possibility of injury.

    2. Ah, you mean like the Hamster getting his noggin nearly turned into a road crayon while rolling a rocket-powered dragster?

  28. It’s so nice to see the respect for the McLaren F1… even we Alonso fans love that car.

  29. he was driving too fast like most people in this country, why does no-one say this? I wonder if the police will investigate as they should when there is an injury (or will his celeb status shield him).  From a motoring site “Good news: fewer people are now killed on
    the UK’s roads. Department for Transport statistics, just released for
    2007, show 2946 died last year. That’s one of the lowest figures ever” – all that’s missing here is the word only.  We need fewer cars, lower speeds and better public transport. And because of this reasonable request people will be incensed and hurl vitriol at me.  We do not need rich celebrities driving supercars too fast on public highways.

    1. You seem to have more facts about the accident than the mainstream media.  Where does it say he was driving too fast?  Or are you just making an assumption?  Just because the car _can_ go fast, doesn’t mean he _was_ going fast.  Besides, it’s also one of the fastest stopping cars too.

    2. Actually, it has been confirmed as a low speed collision that was not the fault of the driver…. so – jump to more conslusions why don’t you?

  30.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/aug/05/rowan-atkinson-mclaren-f1-crash

    Picture of trashed car here.

    1. I’m not a physicist but that’s an interesting look for a “low speed collision” isn’t it? Or is that how the doors open on these supercars?
       
      I do hope Simon Cowell has an F1.

      1. Yes, that’s how the doors open on these cars – since the driver sits in the middle, it helps them to get in and out if the roof swings up a bit.

        Also, I can believe this was low speed – I can’t imagine trying to handle one of these cars in the wet at any speed. (And the article does say the road was wet.)

  32. Of course the argument about high speed or low speed ignores the fact that all cars are not created equally. Cars like Mclaren F1’s are designed to be driven fast by a bit more than having a giant engine. They can take a corner at 120 better than a Toyota Corolla can take the same corner at 60. Also- not Rowan’s first crash. He was nearly killed ten or so years ago racing his Mini Cooper

    1. Curiouser and curiouser. Y

      I must say I’ve had more low speed collisions than you could shake a stick at and they’ve usually resulted in a cracked lamp unit or a dented bumper, rather than the car ending up at 90 degrees to the original direction of travel having hit a tree and a lamppost, with the rear wheels separated from the rest of the vehicle and me leaving hospital in a wheelchair the next morning. I guess I have a lot to learn about supercars but on this evidence they don’t seem all that safe – I mean, if a low speed collision can cause this much damage, just imagine what could have happened if Mr Atkinson had been driving like a fucking idiot. Hardly bears thinking about.

  36. Is this the same company that makes the maclaren stroller?  If so (and I believe that it is-LOL), take that Fugaboo!

  38. Hey guys, I really can’t believe everyone is being so insensitive, a guy crashes an F1 and nobody stops to ask if the car is OK?

    1. I really do want to know about the car. Was it damaged beyond repair? If not, when a famous acter crashes a car (for reference, a McLaren F1 has sold for $4M+) does the value go up? Does the insurance company pay up? Who insures $1M+ cars?

  39. If the road was wet at all, it would be fairly easy to get the back end to step out with too much gas. I’ve only driven an F1 on flat dry pavement, but in 6th gear at about 80 mph, I was able to spin the tires with about 3/4 throttle. Amazing car to drive, stupidly quick, and surprisingly easy to handle, but there’s a whole lot of power just waiting to scream out the back wheels.

    1. In which case would it not make more sense to drive the little shopping car on the road and the F1 at the track, as opposed to the other way around?

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