Life is fragile and car accidents seem to remind us of this fact every time we see or hear about them. When a celebrity dies, the news spreads like wildfire, but when that happens in fatal car accidents, there seems to be a morbid curiosity that arises. People are often fascinated by the details of the crash, what lead to it and how it happened. We simply can’t look away when we pass something tragic on the road, the reason for that, some believe, is the need for adrenaline, or aliveness that we feel when we witness gruesome scenes. Combine that with our constant fascination with celebrities and you’ve got something that will forever interest people. We’re going to take a look at 5 celebrities who lost their lives in fatal car accidents.
5. Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield was the ultimate American sex symbol in the ‘50s. She was sexy, voluptuous and had the most vibrant personality in Hollywood. Her career was also as wonderful as her image, having won the Golden Globe for her role in the Wayward Bus in 1957, and her love life was as tumultuous as her good looks would have it. She allegedly had love affairs with both Robert and John Kennedy. On June 29, 1967, Jayne Mansfield was killed in a car accident, when the car she was in rear-ended a tractor-trailer. The actress was killed on the spot. She was only 34.
4. Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock may not have been a famous actor, but he was a celebrity in his own right. In the ’50, being an artist, a painter, was the equivalent of being a successful actor or rock star. Pollock left a massive imprint on the art world, with his drip style of painting. On August 11, 1956 he was driving his car while inebriated and crashed it. Fortunately, he was the only victim. There are very few pictures of the car crash.
3. Princess Grace Kelly 
Grace Kelly had it all: she was beautiful, rich, had a great career as an actress, she was a fashion icon and became a Princess of Monaco at the age of 26 after marrying Prince Rainier III. If you’ve seen her in the motion picture Rear Window or To Catch a Thief, then you know how talented and beloved she was by millions. Unfortunately, her story did not have a happy ending: on September 13, 1982, at the age of 52, she suffered a stroke while she was driving her car, lost control of it and was critically injured. She died one day later in the hospital. There is no video of the fatality.
2. James Dean
James Dean had the most promising career of any Hollywood star. All that ended on a Friday afternoon on September 30, 1955, when the actor was involved in a fatal car accident in California. The Rebel Without a Cause star was in his new 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder heading to a race in Salinas when a 1950 Ford Tudor coupe crashed into the star’s car in the intersection of U.S. Route 466 and State Route 41. The Ford was driven by a 23-year-old college student, who survived and there were no other victims. James Dean left behind only three motion pictures and a nation of sobbing fans.
1. Princess Diana
Princess Diana was the most photographed celebrity in the world. Her life was closely followed and scrutinized by the media after marrying Prince Charles in 1981. She was also one of the most beloved figures in the world, being strong willed, kind and completely dedicated to changing the world for the better. On the night of August 31, 1997, Princess Diana and her friend Dodi al-Fayed were killed in a fatal car accident inside a tunnel in Paris. The car was speeding, trying to avoid the paparazzi and many blame them, saying that she was a victim of the paparazzi. Graphic photos of the car crash were splashed all over the news and in offensive articles, creating a media circus that still shocks the world today. Fortunately, there are no videos of the crash. Around 2.5 billion people watched the broadcast of the Princess’ funerals.
Fatal car accidents happen all over the United States, but the statistics have revealed that the following cities and states have the highest number of fatal car accidents: Texas, Houston, Ohio, San Francisco, Arizona, Florida, Riverside, Michigan, Virginia, TN, Las Vegas, California, Oklahoma, Dallas, TX, Phoenix, Alabama, Maryland, Chicago, San Diego, CA, Indiana, North Carolina, Colorado, Tennessee, Orange County.