Inside Vince Neil’s Car Accident That Caused Razzle’s Death

Mötley Crüe lead vocalist Vince Neil has had to endure a fair share of tragedies in his life.

Some were caused by him, while others were out of his control. 

One such tragedy that Neil has to bear on his conscience was the car crash of 1984, which left one dead and three injured, including himself. 

Vince Neil Was Drunk during the Car Crash

On December 8, 1984, Neil was out partying with the Finnish band Hanoi Rocks. The European band had thrown a party to celebrate their first American tour.

Cover of 'The Dirt' — Mötley Crüe's tell-all autobiography (Source: Instagram)

Members of Mötley Crüe were also at the party. 

It must come as no surprise that the party thrown by and attended by rockstars had quite a lot of booze involved. Of course, everyone was already drinking a lot. 

At some point, Neil and Hanoi Rocks' drummer Razzle stepped out of the party, absolutely hammered but still looking for more to drink. 

As per Pop Sugar, the musicians were driving to another liquor store somewhere in LA when the car accident happened.

For the liquor run, Neil was in the driver's seat, and the drummer was his passenger.

However, the vocalist was so intoxicated that he lost control of his vehicle and drove into the oncoming traffic, which resulted in the fatal car accident. 

The Damage from The Car Accident

Thankfully, Neil got out of the crash with relatively minor injuries, but sadly, Razzle wasn't as lucky. 

The other vehicle that was in the car accident had two passengers: Lisa Hogan and Daniel Smithers, both of whom suffered traumatic brain injuries from the crash. 

Razzle was later pronounced dead at the hospital. 

Investigators registered that Neil had a blood alcohol count of .17 after the accident. A driver is considered legally intoxicated at .10. 

The Aftermath of the Car Accident

Following the incident, Neil ended up spending a few weeks in jail after pleading guilty to vehicular manslaughter.

He also paid a total of 2.6 million dollars in damages and was required to put in hundreds of hours of community service while on probation. 

Most notably, though, the court ordered Neil to check himself into rehab, which, for all intents and purposes, forced the rocker into sobriety. 

Had he not agreed to the deal, he could have faced a maximum prison sentence of four years and eight months, a sentence he could still fall back on should he violate probation, Los Angeles Times reported. 

At the time, Neil and his band aided in the efforts of telling their fans about the dangers of drinking and driving. 

Neil's publicist came out with a statement saying: 

They’re not saying to people, ‘Don’t drink,’ but they are saying ‘Don’t drive and drink. Don’t be an idiot.

The band even issued a message to their fans via the inner sleeve of their next album, Theatre of Pain. The sleeve read, "To All Crue Fans: If and/or when you drink—Don't take the wheel. Live and learn."

The Car Crash Caused a Rift

While the band presented a united front to the outside world, their 2001 autobiography, The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band, revealed that things on the inside were quite different.

After the crash, a huge rift was created between Neil and the rest of the band because of his court-prescribed sobriety. 

As the band members continued engaging in their drug addictions, Neil could not.

So they alternated between mocking Neil, tempting him to partake, and pushing him away altogether.