# Looking for details about the death of Robert Schimmel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976 "2010-12-31T19:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/1 "2010-12-31T19:17:07Z")
Reading a feature in the paper today about what celebrities died this year, I was stunned to find out comedian Robert Schimmel had died last summer. I hadn’t heard about it. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schimmel) says: [SIZE=“2”][SIZE=“1”]_On August 26, 2010, Schimmel was a passenger in a car driven by his 19-year-old daughter, Aliyah, when the car flipped onto its side before coming to a stop in the shoulder of the freeway. Schimmel was hospitalized in serious condition, while Aliyah was hospitalized in stable condition. Schimmel’s son, also in the car at the time, was not injured. On September 3, 2010, Schimmel died of his injuries. He is interred at the Paradise Memorial Gardens in Scottsdale, Arizona._[/SIZE][/SIZE] But no other details. I want to know: Who was at fault in the accident? Any arrests or citations issued? What were the nature of Roberts injuries? Was he wearing his seat belt? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/2 "2010-12-31T19:22:30Z")
From the [article](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/2010/09/04/2010-09-04_comedian_robert_schimmel_in_very_serious_condition_after_car_accident_in_arizona.html) linked to from your cited Wikipedia entry: > [@](#): > > Bragman said Aliyah Schimmel swerved to avoid another vehicle and lost control of the car, sending it rolling to the side of the freeway. > > Read more: [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/2010/09/04/2010-09-04\_comedian\_robert\_schimmel\_in\_very\_serious\_condition\_after\_car\_accident\_in\_arizona.html#ixzz19icOWZTB](http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/2010/09/04/2010-09-04_comedian_robert_schimmel_in_very_serious_condition_after_car_accident_in_arizona.html#ixzz19icOWZTB) It is possible to suffer fatal injuries in a car accident while wearing a seatbelt. I don’t see the relevance of that question. As to the injuries he suffered, my WAG would be head injuries. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/3 "2010-12-31T19:24:55Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > It is possible to suffer fatal injuries in a car accident while wearing a seatbelt. I don’t see the relevance of that question. Could it be that the OP just wants to know? Wouldn’t that make it relevant? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/4 "2010-12-31T19:32:37Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Could it be that the OP just wants to know? Wouldn’t that make it relevant? I suppose. But relevant to his death? Not necessarily. As to fault, [This article](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodResourceCenter/robert-schimmels-daughter-faces-survivors-grief-death-comedian/story?id=11578017) indicates that authorities did not fault the daughter for the accident. No further details as to whether another driver was found at fault. Seems as though it’s possible there either was no fault or fault could not be determined. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/5 "2010-12-31T20:11:01Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > It is possible to suffer fatal injuries in a car accident while wearing a seatbelt. I don’t see the relevance of that question. Really? Please, educate me on auto accident investigations. > [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Could it be that the OP just wants to know? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/6 "2011-01-01T06:11:11Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Really? Please, educate me on auto accident investigations What do you want to know? WRT the relevance of whether Schimmel was wearing his seatbelt, it’s likely it would not have even mattered. From the [National Safety Council](http://www.nsc.org/safety_road/DriverSafety/Pages/SeatBelts.aspx): > [@](#): > > Forty-two percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2007 were unbelted. A 2009 NHTSA study estimates more than 1,600 lives could be saved and 22,000 injuries prevented if seat belt use was 90 percent in every state. Fifty-eight percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2007 were belted. Most. I’m not advocating not wearing your seat belt, but it’s no guarantee of surviving a car accident. I wear mine mainly because it’s significantly more likely to reduce my injuries in the event of a non-fatal collision. However, I do personally know someone who survived an exceptionally destructive collision with less serious injuries that more than likely would have killed her had she not been wearing her seat belt. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/7 "2011-01-01T06:16:45Z")
Wow, I hadn’t heard this either, and I’m surprised. He battled cancer from what I remember, and I believe he beat it. I liked his stand-up act and enjoyed his sense of humor. To beat cancer and die in a car wreck sucks. I guess his number was REALLY up. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/8 "2011-01-01T07:17:02Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > What do you want to know? Try to come up with something I don’t cover in the accident reconstruction & investigation class I teach recruits at the police academy. I’ve been doing that on the side since I retired after 25 years as a traffic officer. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/9 "2011-01-01T17:58:41Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Try to come up with something I don’t cover in the accident reconstruction & investigation class I teach recruits at the police academy. I’ve been doing that on the side since I retired after 25 years as a traffic officer. So, the statistics I posted wrt percentage of deaths of belted occupants is something you cover? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/10 "2011-01-01T19:16:35Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > So, the statistics I posted wrt percentage of deaths of belted occupants is something you cover? Yes. But we have an intricate matrix laying out the types of accidents that occurred, the types of road (for speed analysis and variables in road conditions, etc.) and so on. I don’t have it in front of me and the next class isn’t until the end of February, so I can’t accurately quote from it. But to put it simply, many of the belted fatalities have outstanding dynamics (extremely excessive speed, rollover, missile projection, etc..). e.g. driving into the back of a flat bed truck trailer at 73mph in a Mazda Miata so it smashes into the windshield and crushes the driver or driving into a large tree at 107mph in a Pontiac Fiero so it literally explodes, or hitting a deer at 57mph and it slides up the hood, through the windshield killing both the driver and passenger (all accidents I was sent to, the drivers/passenger of all 3 were belted) are statistics of belted people dying, but deaths that certainly were not caused by being belted. Nor anything a reasonable person could expect a seat belt to save one from. But these things do skew the statistics. But none of this is pertinent to the OP. I was just curious about the details of the accident and Roberts injuries. And still stunned about learning of his death at this late date. Normally I [Keep](http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf/pages-nf/main) up on [celebrity](http://www.nndb.com/) deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/11 "2011-01-03T16:08:08Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > I suppose. But relevant to his death? Not necessarily. What is necessarily true, save by definition? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-details-about-the-death-of-robert-schimmel/565976/12 "2011-01-03T16:22:25Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Fifty-eight percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2007 were belted. Most. [And seat-belt use is 81%](http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810677.PDF). Therefore, people who wear seat belts are less likely to die in an automobile crash.