‘He needs to be taken off the road’: Dick Van Dyke's 'car keys taken away' by wife Arlene Silver after Malibu car accident
MALIBU, CALIFORNIA: Dick Van Dyke has reportedly been taken off the road by his wife, Arlene Silver, who took away his keys after a horrific Malibu car accident left the Hollywood legend bloodied and shaken. The 97-year-old actor suffered minor injuries after his vehicle lost control in rain and crashed into a gate in Malibu on March 15.
The ‘Chhitty Chhitty Bang Bang’ star was found in the driving seat of a 2018 Lexus LS 500 with a bleeding nose and mouth. The acting legend escaped the harrowing collision with what rescue workers described as “minor injuries”, but the brush with death convinced his 51-year-old wife to revoke his driving privileges. "Dick’s gotten to the point where he needs to be taken off the road — for his own safety and the safety of others," said an unnamed insider told Radar Online.
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'She doesn’t want to press her luck'
"Arlene is terrified if she doesn’t take the keys away now, it may be too late!" the source noted, adding that Van Dyke is not pleased with his wife's decision to take him off the road. "Dick is chafing at Arlene’s concerns. He’s aware of his age, but he’s determined to maintain his independence," the tipster claimed. Despite the star’s feelings, Arlene is making sure he doesn’t end up in another serious accident. "She doesn’t want to press her luck,” explained the source. “She loves her husband very much and doesn’t want to see him die in the driver’s seat!”
These claims come days after the ‘Mary Poppins' star revealed how he was feeling post the accident that led to him getting two stitches. "I’m fine, just sore all over," he told Daily Mail when asked how his recovery was going. "The airbag did not deploy, so I just did a face plant right into the steering wheel and it just made me a little dumber." However, Van Dyke dismissed questions about his health by saying, "I'm 97; all my buddies are dead," in response to the question. He also thanked Silver for taking his car, and said “without her”, he would “probably be dead”.
Fiery accident a decade before Malibu crash
However, this is not the first time that Van Dyke has been involved in a traumatic car accident. In August 2013, Van Dyke narrowly escaped death after his Jaguar burst into flames while he was driving on the 101 freeway in Los Angeles. He was rescued by an onlooker who pulled him out of his smoke-filled vehicle, which was pulled up to the side of the road. Van Dyke only suffered minor scratches in the accident but his sports car was left as a charred wreckage.
