Auto Trader

But it doesn’t stop them from crashing into trouble.

Vijay Pattni takes a look at the stars and how they drive headfirst into disaster.

Britney Spears

Los Angeles is a hotspot for famous fender-benders.

Britney Spears was ordered by a judge to report to a Los Angeles police station in September after she was charged with hit-and-run driving stemming from an incident in August.

Attorney Michael Flanagan, representing the troubled singer, said Britney “must go to any LA police station for fingerprints and mug shots. She will do that, but I don’t know when.”

But the troubled starlet has avoided trial – the hit and run charge has been dismissed.

Dietmar Hamann

The Manchester City footballer has been banned for six months – for crashing his £70,000 Porsche Carrera into a fence and refusing to tell police who was driving.

When police found the former Liverpool midfielder at the crash site, he was reported as denying ownership of the crashed Porker, saying: “No, I couldn’t drive like this.”

He was fined £8,250 and banned for six months earlier this week.

Michelle Rodriguez

TV star Michelle Rodriguez appears to have lost her way.

After failing to complete community service as punishment for a previous drink-drive incident, the former Lost star has been sentenced to six months in a US jail.

And it may not be a Merry Christmas in the Rodriguez household – LA Superior Court Judge Daviann Mitchell ordered the star to report to the county jail – on Christmas Eve.

Kiefer Sutherland

The star of hit TV show 24 will spend 48 days in jail in two instalments, with the first in December, after being convicted of a drink-drive incident in Los Angeles last month.

Sutherland pleaded no contest – meaning that production of 24 will not be interrupted.

He said: “I'm very disappointed in myself for the poor judgment I exhibited recently.”

Nicole Richie

The diminutive socialite was sentenced to four days in a California jail after being arrested in December last year – for driving her black Mercedes SUV the wrong way down a Los Angeles motorway.

Richie was convicted of Driving while Under the Influence – though this wasn’t the first time the star would face the rap.

She was convicted of the same offence in June 2003.

Paris Hilton

The hotel heiress became even more infamous earlier this year when she was sentenced to jail after being caught driving with a suspended licence – which she received as punishment for an earlier drink-drive incident.

Officers spotted her 2007 Bentley Continental GTC Convertible speeding down Sunset Boulevard without its headlights on – and promptly cited a misdemeanour charge.

Hilton spent just 23 days of a 45-day sentence in a Los Angeles prison.

Auto Trader links

Lewis, a law-enforcing Lotus and a little Audi: read this weeks’ news and features on the Auto Trader blog

Celebrity
Star of hit show 24 Kiefer Sutherland jailed

Football
Hamann hit by driving ban
Steven Gerrard visits injured boy in hospital
Boy recovering after Steven Gerrard Bentley collision

Fifth Gear
Exclusive: first pics of Jason Plato’s car blaze
TV star hurt in 150mph fireball
Auto Talk: Jason Plato
Auto Talk: Tiff Needell
Auto Talk: Tiff Needell (2006)
Auto Talk: Vicki Butler-Henderson
Auto Talk: Quentin Willson

Top Gear
Top Gear’s Richard Hammond speaks after crash
Top Gear's Hammond in new car smash