Car chase scenes have long been a source of fascination for film-lovers, from old-school classics like The Italian Job all the way through to the modern day Fast & Furious franchise. Now, new research from Jardine Motors has revealed how many penalty points some of our favourite film characters would have accrued if they were driving on UK roads, with shocking results.
Bond behind bars?
James Bond is one of the most recognisable characters in British cinema history, but he would soon be taking the bus to MI6 or perhaps even serving time behind bars if he were to drive on UK roads in real life.
In the opening scene of Skyfall (2012), Bond commits driving offences that would rack up to 59 penalty points in the space of two minutes, while fellow character Moneypenny would have recorded 72 penalty points in the same period. Due to such a total, the secret service pair would have their licences taken from them ten times over in the UK.
The most serious offences
In some of the scenes we surveyed, Hollywood characters committed some of the most serious driving offences in existence. For instance, Matt Damon’s representation of Jason Bourne would have been found guilty of ‘Causing death by careless, or inconsiderate, driving’ for his driving in The Bourne Supremacy (2004) – which could have led to a 14-year prison sentence3.
Ben Affleck’s Batman character was also a serious offender in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), a DC Comics blockbuster. Batman would have been guilty of ‘Causing death by dangerous driving’ and ‘Furious driving’ in real life, and his rampage during the film would have earned him 97 penalty points, enough to lose his licence eight times over.
Key findings
- Three driving offences were tied as the most common seen in Hollywood films: ‘Driving without reasonable consideration for other road users’ (max of nine penalty points), ‘Dangerous driving’ (max of eleven penalty points), and ‘Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road’ (max of six penalty points).
- Vin Diesel’s character Dom, from the Fast and Furious series racked up the highest points figure in a single film – he would have been slapped with a massive 98 penalty points for one scene in The Fate of the Furious (2017). A UK driver may be disqualified for accruing 12 points.
- Broken down by actor, Ben Affleck would have picked up the most points as he would have received 97 points as Batman, but Roger Moore is a shock second in the list as he would have picked up 91 penalty points for his time as James Bond.
Every single character analysed would have had their licence taken from them for their driving.
Top ten film drivers who would have the received the most penalty points (averaged across franchise):
- Ben Affleck as Batman – 97 penalty points
- Roger Moore as James Bond – 91 penalty points
- Matt Damon as Jason Bourne – 80 penalty points
- Ansel Elgort as Baby Driver – 75 penalty points
- Michael Caine & team in Italian Job – 72 penalty points/ Naomi Harris as Moneypenny (James Bond) – 72 penalty points
- Christian Bale as Batman – 71 penalty points
- Vin Diesel as Dom (Fast & Furious) – 68 penalty points/ Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt (Mission: Impossible) – 68 penalty points
- Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner (Fast & Furious) – 66 penalty points
- Pierce Brosnan as James Bond – 56 penalty points
- Daniel Craig as James Bond – 53 penalty points
Further information can be found here: https://news.jardinemotors.co.uk/lifestyle/fast-furious-off-the-road
Offering comment on the findings, Neil Greig, Policy and Research Director from UK Road Safety charity IAM RoadSmart, said: “In the UK anyone attempting to drive fast and furiously will soon run out of rubber, run out of empty streets and run out of luck with the law. The best drivers know that the key to arriving unshaken and unstirred is to anticipate and avoid trouble and make smooth progress at all times.”
