Early on the morning of February 21, 1974, Horton was driving on the Queen Elizabeth Way from Toronto to his home in Buffalo after the Buffalo Sabres had played in Toronto the night before, in his sports car. He lost control and hit a concrete culvert. The crash turned the vehicle over and Horton, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown out of the car. Horton was dead on arrival at the local hospital. A police officer following Horton said that he had been going over 160 km/h (100 mph).