she was as good as dead not when the car left the bridge but when she couldn’t get out to join him in a made up story about about the accident
... when Kennedy saw that he was not going to be able to get Mary Jo out of that car without the help of the authorities she was a dead woman whether she was alive(like the diver said she surely was for at least an hour) or not..
there was no way he could have afforded to have the police called before he sobered up.. so Kennedy decided to let her stay down there not really caring if she was alive or dead.. he knew if he waited enough hours it was a no brainer by morning she would be dead and the warped story of it being just an innocent accident was created to cover for his political career
what a sack of crap
I saw the comments of the diver in another thread, and I had never known of them all these years. I assume the 1 hour figure is based on trapped air, but I am unconvinced that the average person would have the presence of mind required to seek it out and breath from it in the dire circumstances of the crash.
Mythbusters investigated this experimentally, in a pool, and even from their experience in the clear, well lighted water I believe the comments were to the effect that it would be very difficult to use this air.
Of course, this doesn’t release Kennedy from responsibility for his actions, but I have always supposed that he assumed she was already drowned, and I still think so.
I also can’t picture how she could have been saved, whatever the diver said, even if Kennedy had promptly reported the accident. To me, the most damning fact is the whole pattern of behavior, including his reckless driving, that led to the crash, and Mary Jo Kopechne’s death.