On 22 October 1972, while driving home from a session with the Stoke physiotherapist, Banks lost control of his Ford Granada car which ended up in a ditch. He had attempted to overtake a car on a sharp turn and collided with an oncoming Austin A60. He woke up in the North Staffordshire Hospital with 200 stitches in his face and over 100 micro-stitches inside the socket of his right eye, and was told the chances of saving the sight in his eye were 50–50.[70] His sight never returned, and as the loss of binocular vision severely limited his abilities as a goalkeeper, he retired from professional football the following summer