Friends do get anxious in the car since my 320mph crash

FORMER Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has admitted some of his friends worry about getting in a car with him years after the crash that nearly killed him.

- Mark Jefferies

The star was left in a coma after the accident driving a jet-powered dragster called Vampire which is said to have been doing 320mph on Top Gear in 2006. Richard, 54, said of his pals: "Some of them get anxious. What's worse is when somebody else is driving and I'm in the car because it tends to go one of two ways.

"Either they demonstrate 'I'm not going to mess about, I'm just going to drive normally' or 'Wahey, here we go!' and they overcook it. That can get alarming."