there is an investigation under way to determine who (if anyone) is responsible for the accident.
If anything the insurance companies will want someone to sue (yes, the UK is becoming ever more like the US).

To me though it looks like just a regrettable accident such as they are bound to happen when you're dealing with experimental and powerful machines.
The people using those machines know the risks and accept them, Hammond certainly is no different. He knew that an accident could kill him, he accepted that.
At those speeds a tiny fabrication flaw in a tyre that's too small to detect during QA can cause a blowout and a crash will inevitably result for example.

If people never had taken risks we'd still be living in the trees cowering from the predators roaming below.
In fact we're fast reverting to that state, just look at the space program.


We are now incapable of reaching the moon for heaven's sake, not because we don't know how to but because we're too scared to risk the journey as someone might get hurt in the process.

i live in the uk and a member of my family was recently sent out to basra in iraq and he may have to go to afganistan and believe me, were losing the war

heres the sensible version

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...ichard+hammond