Most fans know Simon Pegg as the sharp-witted star of Mission Impossible, Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz—but behind the scenes, the 55-year-old actor has been grappling with something far less glamorous: a string of driving mishaps and an undiagnosed mental health condition that he now believes played a huge role.
The Family Crash That Changed Everything
Pegg recently opened up on the Wrong Turns podcast, where he spoke candidly about a moment that finally pushed him to seek answers.
While on a family holiday in Greece, he crashed yet another hire car—this time with five people in the vehicle.
“I was backing out of the driveway,” he said, “people were talking and I was trying to check the sides of the car.
I didn’t look at the rearview camera and I hit a post.”
The worst part, he added, was seeing the look of quiet disappointment from his wife.
“I could feel her just crumbling,” he admitted.
A Pattern of Accidents and Distractions
This wasn’t an isolated incident. Pegg confessed that crashing rental cars on holiday has become somewhat of a running joke—albeit an unfortunate one.
“Seemingly without exception, I crash every hire car on holiday,” he said with a nervous laugh.
But it goes deeper than just holiday mishaps.
Pegg has been banned from driving three times, largely due to accumulated speeding points.
One of those bans happened in 2021, when he was caught doing 63mph in a 40mph zone in his £66,000 Mercedes GLE 500.
At that point, he already had nine points on his licence, and the new offence triggered an automatic six-month ban.
Suspecting Something More: ADHD Realization Hits Home
After the crash in Greece, Pegg found himself spiraling into self-reflection.
Still rattled from the incident and his daughter asking, “Are you all right, dad?”, he grabbed his phone and searched something specific:
“Do people with ADHD get into more car accidents than people who don’t have it?”
The answer was a resounding yes.
“That was the final straw that broke my ADHD camel’s back,” Pegg said.
“I need to speak to a psychiatrist and find out for sure if I have this thing.”
He explained that he’s always struggled to stay focused in the car when there’s a lot of noise—especially with passengers talking or shouting.
Despite advanced driving training and years of experience, his mind simply drifts.
“I’m a Good Driver… Until I’m Not”
Even though Pegg has had multiple accidents and three driving bans, he still insists he’s a decent driver—at least under the right circumstances.
“I’ve done a lot of advanced driving training,” he said.
“But when there are loads of people talking and shouting, I just lose focus.
Still, that crash was absolutely my fault.”
The 2021 Driving Ban and Court Appearance
One of Pegg’s more serious brushes with traffic law came in early 2020, when he was clocked speeding down the A41 in Hendon, North London.
The Mercedes was going 63mph in a 40mph zone, and that triggered another court date at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court.
Pegg’s income at the time was declared as £3,800 a week, and he was fined £660.
With three bans, several fines, and a trail of dented hire cars behind him, it’s no surprise that Pegg is now looking deeper.
“It’s probably very serious ADHD, and I need to look into that,” he admitted.
What’s Next for Simon Pegg?
Now that he’s taken the first step by acknowledging a potential diagnosis, Pegg says his next move is to speak to a psychiatrist and get properly evaluated.
It’s a deeply personal journey, but one that he hopes might also explain years of frustration behind the wheel.
And while he may not be behind the wheel for now, Pegg’s honesty about his struggles—and his determination to get help—might just steer him toward better days ahead.
