MovieChat Forums > James Dean Discussion > If the accident occurred today, do you t...

If the accident occurred today, do you think he would have made it?


This is something that I'm surprised doesn't get talked about often. We know that James Dean died in 1955, a time when hospital equipment and medical technology was in the dark ages compared to today in 2014. Heck, I don't even think they came up with CPR yet, and they certainly did not have the EMT technology in the ambulances that they do nowadays.

It doesn't mean that he would have been able to survive, though. Dude suffered massive internal and external injuries; he had a broken neck and suffered major blood loss. In my personal opinion, even after desperate attempts with the best modern lifesaving treatment available to keep him alive, he would slip into a coma and placed on life support. I'm no doctor though, so I can say for sure.

What do you think?


"I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum!"

reply

This message has been deleted by the poster

reply

I don't think so. The last documentary I saw - I think it was "Forever James Dean" was the first/only time I'd heard his injuries described. He was very severely injured in his neck; I don't think anything could have repaired that. A doctor or nurse would be better able to say, of course.

reply

look at the facts he was driving a car a small light weight sports car.He was going fast and he hit a full sized car .Cars back then were made with a tougher metal it would of been like hitting a tank or a train .He was screwed no matter what era his was in .

Only when society changes will the culture change "

reply

look at the facts he was driving a car a small light weight sports car.He was going fast and he hit a full sized car .Cars back then were made with a tougher metal it would of been like hitting a tank or a train .He was screwed no matter what era his was in .

You bring up some very good points, but then again there's been claims circulating out there about JD's actual speed that fateful evening...
Despite to common belief, he was not speeding at all. He was driving the normal speed limit towards that intersection and it was Turnupspeed who didn't see Dean and failed to make the proper turn-signal in time when the collision occurred.
Who actually knows for sure, though? It's all a mystery...

"I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum!"

reply

i did not know that james dean was going the speed limit i thought that he was doing some where around 75/80pmh.Regardless his car was no match for turnupspeeds thats the truth.Only way dean would of had a shot of surviving is if he had a hard top on his car.Deans sportster was just designed to be light weight that way it was faster on the track.Turnupspeeds car was a family it was a tank compared to dean's porsche .Dean would had to have been moving at like 20mph and clipped him for there to be no damage .In that case there probably wouldnt of been no accident ,such a tragedy though RIP to dean .

Only when society changes will the culture change "

reply

I also stopped at that intersection, got out , and looked around. Eerie , for sure. I once saw a replica of the Porsche Dean was driving . It was surprisingly tiny. A death trap of a car. Dean had a broken neck . I believe he was dead at the scene. Had he survived, he would have been a quadriplegic. In 1955, people in that condition usually died within a short time .

reply

I don't think so. The last documentary I saw - I think it was "Forever James Dean" was the first/only time I'd heard his injuries described. He was very severely injured in his neck; I don't think anything could have repaired that. A doctor or nurse would be better able to say, of course.

True but there are people who have survived and recovered from severe neck trauma. Though there are claims that Dean not only broke his neck but was damned near decapitated; don't know if that is actually the truth, though.

I'm just saying he'd probably have a higher chance of survival if the wreck happened in today's day and age instead of back in 1955. I heard that when the ambulance showed up to assist Dean and his buddy at the scene all they really had were stretchers and blankets. There was nearly no life-saving equipment whatsoever and the ambulance had to drive some 20 miles to the hospital. Medical technology seemed pretty crappy during that time compared to what is available now.


I don't want to be a product of my environment; I want my environment to be a product of me.

reply

Brad meltzer has a show where he they had deans porsche as a segmant of the show .There was a car collector who had a replica of deans car .You see him standing buy it and this guy was about just over 6ft the body of the car im going to say came up about right around his shins .It puts it in perspective just how small that car was ,as you said it was a death trap . I think they said it was made out of aluminium which is a light material ,those old 50's car's were like tanks .They were made out of metal ,its unfortunate dean just didn't have a prayer .He wasn't covered up he had no protection being inside that car .

Quality in art is not merely a matter of personal opinion but to a high degree objectively traceabl

reply