Kinison was working to become clean and sober in the months before his death and he married his girlfriend Malika Souiri in 1992. Just six days after the wedding, Kinison's white Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was struck by a seventeen-year-old who had been drinking on US 95, four miles north of where it intersects Interstate 40 several miles west of Needles, California. He had taken US 95 North instead of taking the well known shortcut to Laughlin, Nevada. Kinison was not wearing his seat belt, and his chest struck the steering wheel upon impact. His best friends J.J. Wall and Carl LaBove were in the van behind him. Kinison got out of his car and fell to the ground, and LaBove picked him up and held him until help came. As they sat on the road, LaBove reports that Kinison was looking down the road and laughed and was talking to somebody and said, "No, not now." Then he laughed and said, "No, not yet," and laughed again. He said, "Ok, ok," then died in the arms of his best friend. Oddly enough, Kinison often joked about drunk driving and the futility of trying to prevent it in his act, firmly stating: "We're going to drink, we're going to drive, we're going to pull it off." His wife survived the accident. The other driver received only minor charges. It was later found out that the other driver was not over the limit and even gave CPR to Kinison after the accident. Kinison was found to have very slight traces of cocaine in his bloodstream. Friends and relatives insisted that the comedian was 100% sober at the time of the collision.
