Diana: New Crash Theory

The Mercedes in which Princess Diana was killed had been traveling at 60 mph half as fast as reported earlier at the time of the fatal crash, a leading British accident investigator says. Not only that, but all four occupants of the car would have survived if the Pont de l'Alma traffic tunnel had been equipped with crash barriers, claims Murray Mackay, a professor of transport safety at the University of Birmingham.

Mackay's conclusions were drawn from the ongoing investigation by French police, as well as a visit to the tunnel itself. "If the Mercedes had hit the post at 120 mph (as the police claim)," insists Mackay, "the whole of the passenger compartment would have been destroyed."

Diana had the best chance of survival, he added, because she was sitting in the rear right seat which would have suffered the least force when the car hit the pillar and spun. The Princess of Wales was killed along with her lover, Dodi Fayed, in the early hours of August 31 last year. The driver, Henri Paul, was later found to have an illegal level of alcohol in his bloodstream.