Jay Leno injured again, breaking collarbone, knee and ribs

WASHINGTON – Jay Leno, the legendary comedian and former ‘Tonight Show’ host, appears to have been injured again in another accident months after a garage fire kept him off the Las Vegas Strip for months.

Leno told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that on January 17 he was involved in an accident with a motorcycle he was repairing, breaking his collarbone, several ribs and both kneecaps.

“Just last week I was thrown off my motorcycle,” he told the newspaper. “So I have a broken collarbone. I have two broken ribs. I have two broken kneecaps.”

But he stressed that he was fine after the crash.

“But I’m okay!” Leno said, “I’m fine, I’m working. I’m working this weekend.”

Leno said he works on one of his vintage cars, a 1940 Indian motorcycle, and took it for a test ride. While driving, he noticed the smell of gasoline leaking from the bike and pulled down a side street to investigate.

“So I turned down a side street and crossed a parking lot and unbeknownst to me, a guy had pulled a wire across the parking lot with no flag on it.” Leno told the review journal by phone. “You know, I didn’t see it until it was too late. It just put me on a clothesline and, boom, threw me off my bike.”

The comedian is known for his love of vintage cars and motorcycles, repairing them at his Los Angeles home and driving them around. But restoring old vehicles can be a dangerous hobby.

Leno has been recovering for months from burns caused by a garage fire last year. In November 1907, while he was repairing the fuel line in a 1907 White Steam Car, a fire broke out in his garage. He suffered second-degree burns on part of his torso and face.

Despite the unlucky streak he’s been on with injuries, Leno will return to the Las Vegas Strip on March 31 when he debuts at a new venue: the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas.