WTF : Car owner blames Hammond for crash

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"Jet car owner blames Richard Hammond for the high-speed crash

The owner of the jet car involved in a high-speed crash which nearly claimed the life of Richard Hammond appears on Monday to lay the blame for the accident on the Top Gear presenter.

Dramatic footage of the crash clearly showed the car's right front tyre shredded following a blowout as Hammond tore down an airfield runway at speeds approaching 300mph.

He appeared to lose control of the dragster, which veered off the runway on to the grass before overturning.

But on Sunday's Sun newspaper, Colin Fallows suggested Hammond was to some extent to blame for the crash by "failing to adhere to the briefing".

He said: "Mr Hammond had a puncture and carried on with the tyre deflated", adding that Hammond "stood on the brakes" after the blowout.

He said: "Once these cars are in motion you don't touch the brakes. You stay on the prescribed line and should always be aware of the unexpected.

"By failing to adhere to the briefing, what would have been a controllable incident ended in a major accident."

The BBC and Mr Fallows' firm, Primetime Landspeed Engineering, may be prosecuted for failing to take due care, the paper said.

On Sunday night dramatic footage of the 288mph crash was shown for the first time.

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