David Beckham 'drove recklessly'

Posted Wednesday, June 01, 2011 by stuff.co.nz

David Beckham has been accused of speeding and "driving recklessly" before he was involved in a car crash in Los Angeles.

The British soccer star was with his 12-year-old son Brooklyn when his Cadillac Escalade SUV hit the back of another car on one of the US city's busiest freeways earlier this month. The pair were left shaken but unhurt by the smash, while the 40-year-old male driver of the other car was taken to hospital for treatment.

According to eye witnesses, the 36-year-old star was driving too fast when he rear-ended a car that had stalled in the fast lane of the 405 freeway on May 6.

Recorded calls released by TMZ and believed to have been made to the emergency services after the crash seemingly reveal that onlookers told 911 operators that Beckham had been "definitely speeding" and "tailgating" another car.

"It pulled out of the car pool lane and pulled back in, kind of breaking a couple of traffic laws. I mean, this guy was speeding," said one male caller. "I guess there was a car with its hazard lights on in the car pool lane that had stalled out or something and he rammed it in the butt.

"He was definitely speeding and cutting in and out of the yellow lines prior to that."

Another female caller alleged Beckham had been driving too quickly for some time.

"I just want to let you know that the guy with the SUV was speeding all the way from LAX (Los Angeles Airport)," she said. "He was speeding really bad. I let him pass by and he was just driving so recklessly."

Beckham has not yet been arrested or charged with any driving offences in relation to the accident.

A spokesman for the athlete has played down the speeding reports.

"As unfortunate as accidents are, David was not cited by the police at the scene for any violations," he said.