Footballers and car accidents

For those footballers who make it to the top of today's game, the rewards are enormous. Fantastic pay packets, the opportunity to strut their stuff in front of millions and celebrity status all go hand-in-hand with being a modern day top class footballer.

But it's not all champagne and roses and some footballers find it hard to cope with so much money and influence at such a young age. Some end up in the tabloids after fighting with photographers, some find themselves the subject of kiss and tell stories and some as recently demonstrated by a Premier League player who, quite bizarrely, stole a toilet seat turn to crime.

However, the most common fate that seems to beset footballers today is car accidents. When you think about the reasons for this, it's not really any surprise that these grossly overpaid twentysomething lads are continuously ploughing their vehicles into parked cars and fence posts.

Earning more money in a week than most of us earn in a year, the world is these boys' oyster when it comes to buying a car. This means they can afford to go out and blow wads of cash on top of the range sports cars and they often do.

Young stars and car accidents
Take Wayne Rooney, for example. When he passed his driving test he was given a free SportKa by Ford but it wasn't long before he had replaced this with a £50,000 Cadillac Escalade. Soon after getting the keys for this huge 4x4, he collided with a builder's lorry in Cheshire, causing not just a little damage.

A few months later the England forward was in another car accident, this time whilst driving a BMW X5. The Police had enough, charged Rooney with driving without due care and attention and he was ordered to take a driver's improvement scheme.

It's fairly easy to jump on Rooney's back for being involved in two vehicle accidents within only a couple of months of each other, but is it really his fault? Maybe he wasn't driving fantastically but what else can you expect from an 18-year-old in a car that is far beyond his years?

Most of wouldn't get to drive such a car, if at all, until we've made our money in life and have had years of driving experience. But if you had the chance to drive something like this when you were still a teenager, would you really turn it down? I thought not.

Saying that, there's no excuse for footballers driving dangerously, as some most certainly do. Current Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant, for example, was sentenced to three months in prison after crashing his top of the range Mercedes into an Aylesbury lamppost whilst drunk. He was already banned at the time for an earlier infraction and upon his release from jail was forced to resume his playing career whilst still wearing an electronic tagging device.

Rooney and Pennant have been lucky enough not to have left anybody with serious personal injuries through their car accidents, but others have not been so lucky.

Players and fatal car accidents
Lee Hughes, currently plying his trade with Oldham Athletic, has recently been released from a three-year jail term after fleeing the scene of a road accident that claimed the life of another motorist.

He was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving following the 2003 car crash in Warwickshire that left his Mercedes CL500 entangled with a passing Renault Scenic. The driver of the Scenic was severely injured and a passenger later died.

This isn't the first time that players and high-powered cars have combined to cause fatal car accidents. In fact, a look back at the past can reveal numerous instances of footballers playing a part in another motorist's death, with international legends Edmundo and Patrick Kluivert among them.

We're by no means saying that all footballers are bad or dangerous drivers, but are just pointing out how fast cars in the hands of those not best equipped to drive them can result in tragedy.

Make a car accident compensation claim today
If you've been hurt in a car accident, whether it was caused by a footballer or just one of us mere mortals, you could be in a position to make a personal injury compensation claim.

Here at YouClaim we're the no win, no fee car accident claim specialists and can help with a whole range of injuries including whiplash, back injuries, broken bones and head injuries. We never charge any of our customers a single penny so you can be sure that making a claim through us will be totally cost-free at all times.

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If you'd like to find out more, or wish to begin a car accident compensation claim today, get in touch using one of our many methods of contact.

You can chat online to one our of experienced team, request a call back for a more suitable time or you can simply pick up the phone and call us for free any time of the day or night on 0800 10 757 95.