—to prevent cars from sliding under trailers during rear-end collisions. Survivors:
Severe crushing of the skull structure, resulting in immediate brain death.
: Instantaneous death upon impact during a high-speed traffic collision. Specific Injuries
The official autopsy report of Jayne Mansfield paints a clear picture of a death caused by massive head trauma—a "crushed skull with avulsion of cranium and brain." It provides the clinical facts that are the final word on her physical fate. Yet the report also inadvertently became a source of confusion, with its stark descriptions fueling a decades-old myth of decapitation.
To help you further, would you like to know more about the inspired by the crash or the fate of the other passengers (including her children) who survived?