At 97 years old, entertainment king and national treasure Dick Van Dyke may seem to be on par with other people his age, but the icon seems to be made of better things than most of us. The Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Returns vet was reportedly involved in a car accident that left him a bit bloody and banged up, but he reportedly made it out of the other side feeling not too worse for the wear. To the point where no hospital or doctor visits were necessary.
Dick Van Dyke was said to be driving in Malibu on the Ides of March, and apparently lost control of the 2018 Lexus LS 500 that he was operating, and crashed into a gate, as reported by TMZ. According to the LAPD deputies who arrived on the scene, the actor was behind the wheel of the vehicle, and claimed that the car started to slide, making him inable to control it, and it smashed into the gate. At the time, the L.A. streets were wet due to the out-of-place rainfall.
The officials say that Van Dyke was bleeding from the mouth and the nose, and it was suggested that he may have suffered a concussion. However, it doesn't appear as if anyone did much checking into that last part. He was treated at the scene by paramedics, and apparently chose to bypass a visit to the hospital for a follow-up.
The actor was reportedly picked up by someone else from the scene, and did not drive the Lexus back home at the time. It's not clear if the vehicle suffered damages worthy of a tow truck, or how it was transported away from the scene.
Drugs and alcohol were reportedly not a factor in the crash, and cops weren't looking into either as a reason for the accident. Not that Dick Van Dyke has ever been known for being intoxicated, not even at his 97th birthday celebration in December.
Even though it doesn't appear as if Van Dyke was directly responsible for the crash in any way, it's reported that the authorities filled out paperwork and sent it to the local DMV, requesting for the actor to go through another driving test. Their reason for the request involves his advanced age.
Widlly enough, this crash took place just under ten years since that time when the Dick Van Dyke Show namesake was pulled from a burning vehicle on the side of the 101 in California. Hopefully he'll be just as fine after this latest incident as he was back then.
Not many 97-year-old actors would even be out on the road in the first place, but Dick Van Dyke is no ordinary being. (At least not to his fans.) He already shook up primetime TV this year by appearing and performing for The Masked Singer Season 9 as the Gnome. And while he kicked off the season's eliminations after just one episode, he still rocked the house by showing off some of his fancy footwork on stage next to Nick Cannon. We probably shouldn't expect to see him joining the MCU, which he's only vaguely familiar with, but here's hoping he'll still be pulling those moves off, as well as his signature Chitty Chitty Bang Bang steps at 98 and beyond.
