Cochran was involved in a traffic accident in a Ford Consul taxi taking him to the airport. The speeding taxi blew a tire, the driver lost control and the vehicle crashed into a lamppost. No other car was involved. Cochran threw himself over his fiancée Sharon Sheeley to shield her and was thrown out of the car when the door flew open. Taxi driver George Martin was convicted of dangerous driving, fined £50, disqualified from driving for 15 years, and sent to prison for six months.