Look – cars are dangerous. They’re big and heavy and capable of propelling the human body to incredible speeds. However, unlike a motorcycle, cars enclose the driver in a protective cage of metal, and they use four wheels to keep from falling over, making them much, much safer than a motorcycle. Former The Grand Tour co-host and current DriveTribe co-host Richard Hammond recently demonstrated this fact by eating a bit of the road while riding his motorcycle during a shoot.

Over on The Grand Tour, the social media complement to The Grand Tour, Hammond made a post about the crash entitled “I’ve Checked And I’m Not Dead,” saying, “It’s true, I did fall off a motorbike whilst filming recently for The Grand Tour in Mozambique. I banged my head, yes, along with pretty much everything else apart from my left thumb, which remains un-bruised. Can’t tell you more yet about the how and why of it; that’s all for later in the year on the show. As for injuries; well put it this way, I don’t think I can get a book out of it.”

That last bit is a reference to “On the Edge,” a bestseller Hammond wrote a few years back chronicling the high-speed crash he had in September of 2006 when piloting a jet-powered drag racer at 288 mph. That crash left Hammond in critical condition and put him in the hospital for five weeks, suffering serious brain trauma in the process. And while this more recent incident isn’t quite as severe, it’s still reason for concern.

Continue reading for the full story.

The Full Story

According to a recent article from the U.K. publication The Sun, Hammond’s recent motorcycle crash knocked him unconscious. The Sun quotes an unnamed show source as saying “Richard was travelling quite fast when he came off. It caused instant horror on set. There was a lot of concern. If his injuries had been serious it wouldn’t have been easy to get medical attention. It’s very remote there and facilities are basic.”

Jeremy Clarkson also chimed in, saying that “He really did hurt himself quite badly.” When asked if Hammond needed to go to a hospital, Clarkson added, “We don’t do hospitals.”

Funny stuff, Clarkson. But hey, let’s all try and take care of the Hamster, okay?