[Closed] Rowan Atkinsons insurance claim..

What a bell end. He crashed it on the A6 near Preston a few years ago... I seem to remember him taking out another car...

Quite impressive, more than a year to rebuild it!

Never had a crash, Shibbers?

Nope.

the day isn't over yet.. you'll probably be sideswiped by some heavily tattooed agent of karma in an expensive sports car later

Ever fallen off your bike? 😀

I can categorically say that if I was ever given the chance to drive a car like that one of two things would happen. Either I would drive around like a nun behind the wheel of a hearse or I would wrap it around a tree. It is far too much of a car for me.

Atkinson does seem to have some credability as a driver though (this accident being the obvious exception.)

So, what do you reckon his new premium would be for the F1?

Wonder if he had a courtesy car option on his policy and what they gave him? 🙂

jota180 - Member

Wonder if he had a courtesy car option on his policy and what they gave him?

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Yes, I've crashed bikes, but you're not likely to kill someone else when you misjudge a drop-off!

To crash that car twice, and both times due to loss of control, demonstrates that he's a bell end. To say he has credibility as a driver is ridiculous! He's proven himself to be more Mr. Bean than Mr. Button.

And cars like that are NOT a handful at normal speeds. You only end up backwards if you're driving beyond the limits of the road!

you are Mr Angry today Shib. Not sure why your knickers seem to be in such a twist abou this.

He might have swerved to avoid a bunny.
Or a wiggly worm.

To crash that car twice, and both times due to loss of control, demonstrates that he's a bell end.

I've got some sympathy for your views here Shiboleth. Driving on the roads is just that, driving on the roads and really, the number of people you see driving recklessly is really annoying.

Not sure why your knickers seem to be in such a twist abou this.

Maybe someone close to him has been seriously injured or, heaven forbid worse, by someone driving recklessly?

And cars like that are NOT a handful at normal speeds.

Larger tyres take longer to bring up to heat, and due to the larger size have less grip in many conditions (notice rally cars use thin tyres in mud & snow?). Tuning the tyres and suspension for maximum grip and feedback also tunes out the woolly safety margin one has in standard car.

Standard car: Good grip, marginal grip (with lots of warning), and eventually no grip.

High performance car: Good grip, no grip

I don't think Mr Bean hurt anybody other than his insurance company though

TuckerUK - that's just codswallop.

Larger tyres take longer to bring up to heat, and due to the larger size have less grip in many conditions (notice rally cars use thin tyres in mud & snow?).

That's utter nonsense Tucker. Tyres on a road car are developed to provide grip at all temperatures. They don't need to be warmed up like an F1 car tyres!

Have you ever felt a racing car slick after a few laps? Hot to the touch and sticky. Feel your own car tyres, even after hammering on hot tarmac. They'll be warm at best. In winter and on cold tarmac they don't generate anything like enough heat to alter their performance.

And cars like that are NOT a handful at normal speeds. You only end up backwards if you're driving beyond the limits of the road!

I was sat with a friend once in his Westfield waiting to turn right on Ware high street. The road was wet. He gave it slighty to much gas before I knew what was happening we were pointing the the wrong way having spun 180' degrees. Entirely his fault, but only possible because of the performance of the car. The margin between in control and not are much finer in higher performance cars.

To crash that car twice, and both times due to loss of control, demonstrates that he's a bell end. To say he has credibility as a driver is ridiculous! He's proven himself to be more Mr. Bean than Mr. Button.

And cars like that are NOT a handful at normal speeds. You only end up backwards if you're driving beyond the limits of the road!

Do you have much experience driving McLaren F1's (or indeed any top end supercars) then?

Without knowing the exact circumstances of Mr. Atkinson's accidents, I think it a little presumptuous to pass judgement really.

Shibboleth - Member
And cars like that are NOT a handful at normal speeds. You only end up backwards if you're driving beyond the limits of the road!

Powerful mid-engined car, RWD & damp weather can be a bit tricky in fairness. Watch how quickly this goes wrong:

The F1 probably has 2-3x more power than the 220 in this video as well.

thx1138 - Member
Do you have much experience driving McLaren F1's (or indeed any top end supercars) then?

I worked for several years as an editor of a magazine for Aston Martin and got to roadtest all the models from DB7 through to DB9, Vanquish S, V8 Vantage etc, some historical models as well as other top marques for features syndicated elsewhere such as Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes...

Modern supercars are VERY easy to live with at normal speeds and on normal roads. The amount of grip is astounding - it far exceeds the levels of grip on most everyday cars.

Yes, the margin for error when pushed hard is narrower, but to get anywhere near that limit, he must have been driving beyond what the road conditions dictated. There's no other reason to spin off! This shows he's a poor driver.

The other thing about supercars is their ability to recover when you get it slightly wrong - and yes, I've stepped the back end out many a time - but quick racks and instant steering responses mean you're far more likely to recover it than in a lesser car.

That's utter nonsense Tucker. Tyres on a road car are developed to provide grip at all temperatures.

I'm sorry, but it's you that talking nonsense Shibboleth, everyone knows that summer tyres are completely useless when it drops below 7 degrees 🙂

What winter tyres for a MacLaren F1?

Retro, he was driving like a bell end too!

I worked for several years as an editor of a magazine for Aston Martin and got to roadtest all the models from DB7 through to DB9, Vanquish S, V8 Vantage etc, some historical models as well as other top marques for features syndicated elsewhere such as Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes..

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by someone driving recklessly?

Who says he was reckless? It could just be an error.

There are some bitter old tarts on here today.

Who says he was reckless? It could just be an error.

Twice?

Shib is SurfMatt, and I claim my £5!

Shibboleth - Member

Who says he was reckless? It could just be an error.

Twice?

Shibboleth - Member
The other thing about supercars is their ability to recover when you get it slightly wrong - and yes, I've stepped the back end out many a time - but quick racks and instant steering responses mean you're far more likely to recover it than in a lesser car.

I'd say stepping the rear out is pretty silly on the public road myself, whether you catch it or not.

Anyway, look again at the video, can you honestly say you'd catch that? Mid engined cars snap into oversteer pretty damn quickly.

Besides, two crashes in 14 years isn't too bad going. You'd have a bit more of a point if it was two in a year.

The first accident was a low speed shunt resulting in a damaged bonnet, you don't need to be in a supercar to do that!

Whoever wrote that Telegraph report obviously struggled to find enough information to reach the minimum word count.

Almost 30% of the report is rabitting on about Atkinson's appearance on Top Gear - what on earth has that got to do with the actual 'story' ??!?!?!

I worked for several years as an editor of a magazine for Aston Martin and got to roadtest all the models from DB7 through to DB9, Vanquish S, V8 Vantage etc, some historical models as well as other top marques for features syndicated elsewhere such as Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes...

Really? What magazine?

Retro, he was driving like a bell end too!

While I'll reserve judgement on Atkinson as there's a complete lack of evidence beyond the fact the cars were crashed I'd agree on the youtube clip.

Floors it off the roundabout on a wet road to keep up with his mate and spins, definate bellendery. Whether he could have 'caught' it or not, the bellendry was in progress well before the car spun.

thisisnotaspoon - Member
While I'll reserve judgement on Atkinson as there's a complete lack of evidence beyond the fact the cars were crashed I'd agree on the youtube clip.

Floors it off the roundabout on a wet road to keep up with his mate and spins, definate bellendery.

I didn't say he wasn't a cock-tip, did I? It was posted as an example of how a relatively minor mistake in a mid-engined car can go wrong in a big way with little to no warning. He's doing broadly the same speed as his mates in the other cars who didn't spin or even show a wiggle as far as i could see, and it's not like he's going double the speed.

Anyway, look again at the video, can you honestly say you'd catch that?

He was driving like a tool! He was trying to overtake in an unsafe place - roundabout exits are notoriously slimy in the wet due to exhaust emission from other vehicles. He was a very poor driver to pull a stunt like that in the wet!

I'd say stepping the rear out is pretty stupid on the public road myself.

We often did it for the cameras, but with 2 'marshalls' with walkie talkies 😉

Really? What magazine?

It was produced for the chain that own most of the UK's Aston Martin dealerships. We did one for their Mercedes dealers as well. The syndicated articles were reproduced in in-house magazines for hotel chains like Marriott, De Vere etc.

Anyway, look again at the video, can you honestly say you'd catch that? Mid engined cars snap into oversteer pretty damn quickly.

I'm fairly confident that I'd catch that. See if the muppet driving hadn't been short shifting in a jerky fashion he'd not have lost it either. My guess is conditions were like this - wet and very slippery road after a prolonged dry spell - roads covered in exhaust residue which would turn it into a nice wee oily mess.

I worked for several years as an editor of a magazine for Aston Martin and got to roadtest all the models from DB7 through to DB9, Vanquish S, V8 Vantage etc,

Quite frankly I would say:

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And THX just got owned with that response.

...And everyone's suddenly the greatest driver ever. 😆

And THX just got owned with that response.

Hardly. I merely asked a question. That is all.

The first accident was a low speed shunt resulting in a damaged bonnet, you don't need to be in a supercar to do that!

As for the second, his car isn't that far from the road and looks intact - the description of "spinning out" brings to mind a series of 130mph 360 twirls but a 40mph slide through 90 degrees and a bump would be sufficient to earn that description in today's news.

...And everyone's suddenly the greatest driver ever.

You didn't ask if I was the world's greatest driver, you asked if I had any experience driving performance cars. 😉

I also asked another question, which you haven't answered yet.

The 'World's greatest driver' quip was in reference to another post btw, not yours.

The most incredible thing about this all remains that fact that the guy has £70 million in the bank! Good work fella, £70m for a bit of slapstick that he sold by the bucket load to Asian audiences.

What if someone had been cycling along on that side of the road when he lost it and spun across the carriageway - this thread would have a different theme then...

Anyway, back to the OP, what do you reckon his premium could be? I'm fascinated by the idea of him being offered fully comp on the same car. Would any insurer actually do that?

I've never driven the McLaren F1... I'd imagine it's got even more grip than most of the cars I've driven though 😉