In March 1936 Hopkinson was injured in a flying accident, aviation having long been a private hobby. He was making a forced landing in bad weather near Warrington when his aeroplane overturned; fortunately it hit a hedge and did not crush him. Unluckily he suffered light injuries in a second accident the next month, at Rochester airport in Kent when his aircraft went into a spin. In March 1938 Hopkinson was hit by a car near his home, and had to recover in hospital.