 He nearly died in a very serious car accident when a car, driven by a Carlton supporter, smashed at high speed into a tree in Royal Parade on the way home from a 1966 early pre-season practice session at Carlton's home ground, Princes Park.Jones had no driver's licence at the time, and the supporter had offered him a lift to St Kilda, where Jones lived with his grandmother.Due to the speed of the car's impact with the tree, Jones suffered extremely serious skull, facial and eye-socket injuries, nearly lost one eye, badly broke his nose, and broke both of his ankles (the broken ankles were the reason he never played with Carlton Firsts against Hawthorn on wet days at the extremely muddy Glenferrie Oval).