Steve Prefontaine: Is the Hero Worship Justified?

The career that began with such promise a mile away at Hayward Field ended on a sharp curve in the foothills of east Eugene, on Skyline Drive, exactly 156 feet from where that drive intersects with Birch. It was there that Prefontaine's gold 1973 MGB hit a rock wall and he was killed.
"There's no doubt in my mind or the department's mind about what happened that night," Loveall says today. "He was a drunk driver."

 Pre's People in turn resent that the department released Prefontaine's blood-alcohol level, found to be .16. At that time, in Oregon a level of .10 was considered driving while intoxicated and .15 was a criminal offense. Also in 1975, making such information public was not customary.

The National Alcoholism Council in Santa Ana said that a 150-pound man would have to have at least five to six drinks to register a .16 blood alchol level. Loveall said that what remains with him most about that accident was the pungent smell of alcohol, although no containers of any kind were found in the car or at the accident scene.