On the 20th of September 2006, Richard Hammond was seriously injured in a car crash. He was driving a jet-powered car, the Vampire dragster, which was capable of traveling at speeds of up to 370mph. At the point of tyre blow out, the Vampire was traveling at 288.3mph (464 km/h) but upon initial impact had slowed to 232mph (373.4 km/h), mainly as a result of the roll cage digging into the ground and the top of Hammond's helmet being dragged across the surface. It has been speculated that if he was any taller, he would have been decapitated. When the rescue team arrived, they discovered that Richard's underpants was an absolute disgrace.
