American actor James Dean's final words were: "That guy's gotta stop... He'll see us." This was said to his friend Rolf Wütherich, moments before the car crash that killed Dean. As his group of friends traveled to an event via U.S. Route 466, (currently SR 33) at approximately 5:15 p.m. a 1950 Ford Tudor was passing through an intersection while turning, ahead of the Dean's Porsche. Dean, unable to stop in time, slammed into the driver's side of the Ford resulting in Dean's car bouncing across the pavement onto the side of the highway. Dean's passenger, Wütherich, was thrown from the Porsche, while Dean was trapped in the car and sustained numerous fatal injuries, including a broken neck.
The driver of the Ford, Donald Turnupseed, exited his damaged vehicle with minor injuries. The accident was witnessed by a number of passersby who stopped to help. A woman with nursing experience attended to Dean and detected a weak pulse, but "death appeared to have been instantaneous". Dean was pronounced dead on arrival shortly after he arrived by ambulance at the Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital at 6:20 p.m.