On July 16, 1981, Harry Chapin died in an automobile accident when his Ford Pinto was rear ended by a tractor trailer truck on the Long Island Expressway. An autopsy showed that he had suffered a heart attack, but it could not be determined whether that occurred before or after the collision. He had been on his way to perform in a concert in Eisenhower Park in Nassau County. Although Chapin was a notoriously poor driver, Supermarkets General, the owner of the truck, paid $12 million to his widow in the ensuing litigation. Chapin was only 38 years old.
Chapin was interred in the Huntington Rural Cemetery, Huntington, New York. His epitaph is taken from his song "I Wonder What Would Happen to this World." It is:
Oh if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
I wonder what would happen
to this world
