While co-directing and co-writing the documentary
A Dog's Life (1962) [Women of the World] and filming in the States, he was in a car headed from Las Vegas to Los Angeles with fellow writer/director 'Paolo Cav. The speeding driver lost control, blew a tire, and the car flipped.
Belinda Lee was instantly killed while the other suffered non-threatening injuries. Jacopetti was still hospitalized and did not attend Lee's funeral a week later.