# Would Diana have survived the crash with a seatbelt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2002, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660 "2002-05-31T01:30:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/1 "2002-05-31T01:30:26Z")
Inspired by the kids-in-carseats thread in the Pit. I started working as a mother’s help shortly after Diana Spencer was killed in that car crash. There were four kids: two qualified for car seats, two were seat-belt eligible. My standard reminder, which the older two learned to say in chorus with me, was “If Diana had been wearing her seat belt, she would be alive today.” Someone on this board (or the pushpin board, or one of the newsgroups, I don’t remember) once dismissed this claim, saying that no one would have survived that crash. I still believe I’m right: she would have been injured, and might have died later as a result, but would not have been DOA. So am I right or wrong? [sub]It was an effective warning though. The older two were just coming into awareness of society when she died, and the idea that this beautiful, gracious, blonde lady whom their mom idolized (and resembled, to some degree) died for lack of a seat belt made a clear-cut impression on them.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/2 "2002-05-31T01:56:00Z")
her bodyguard **did** survive the crash, and IIRC, he was in the front seat. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/3 "2002-05-31T01:57:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > \*\*her bodyguard **did** survive the crash, and IIRC, he was in the front seat. \*\* And I believe he was the only one wearing a seat belt. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/4 "2002-05-31T02:13:32Z")
I don’t know that a definitive answer was ever given on this question, thou I remember that Geraldo Rivera was going to renact the accident using the same type of Mercedes and test dummies. I seem to recall safety experts saying that if she had been wearing her seat belt that she may have had broken ribs or a collapsed lung, both of which could have led to complications, but they seemed to give her a good chance for survival. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/5 "2002-05-31T02:36:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rilchiam \* > I still believe I’m right: she would have been injured, and might have died later as a result, but would not have been DOA. So am I right or wrong? FWIW, she wasn’t DOA. In fact I believe she survived for around 4 hours before the third heart attack (at least) did for her. IIRC, the internal bleeding had, by then, been brought under control in the operating theatre. Everything I’ve read suggests that had she been wearing a seat belt, Diane would ‘probably’ have survived. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/6 "2002-05-31T02:53:21Z")
[here’s a link](http://www.demonstratives.com/project_websites/diana/princessdiana.html) that says ‘yes, she would have’. It’s got all sorts of scientific type words in it, like ‘yaw’ and ‘calculations’, so I"m sure it’s correct 😃 ---
**Author:** ![flyboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@flyboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flyboy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/7 "2002-05-31T03:34:24Z")
I saw some sort of special on Disc or TLC last year… I forget what it was called. But it did all the simulation/modeling of the crash and what her body did during the crash, and (according to them, IIRC) pretty definitively said a seatbelt would have saved her. Ah. Just saw your link, **wring**. That was the modeling I saw on the show. Assuming their input data was more or less correct, I thought it was pretty convincing. ---
**Author:** ![Ring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Ring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ring)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/8 "2002-05-31T03:56:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring > > It’s got all sorts of scientific type words in it, like ‘yaw’ and ‘calculations’, so I"m sure it’s correct 😃 \*\* God, I guess all we w-Rings are funnier than hell. Too bad you can’t lose that crappy w though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/9 "2002-05-31T04:00:53Z")
Always insist on the original **w** ring 😉 (I’m quite fond of a few "Ring"s IRL, too, so, it’s ok) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-diana-have-survived-the-crash-with-a-seatbelt/111660/10 "2002-05-31T04:58:31Z")
I see. Thank you for the link, **wring**!