At 6.45am on 22 December 1986, he was travelling to a post office to meet workers there when a van skidded on an icy road and hit his Rover SD1 car near Truck Fork, Probus, Cornwall. Penhaligon was pronounced dead at the scene. The van driver was not prosecuted for the accident. The inquest held in March 1987 strongly suggested that Penhaligon was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, nor was the driver of the van, who was thrown out of his vehicle and suffered two broken legs as a result. Penhaligon's injuries were extensive fracture of his ribs and fracture of the neck vertebrae. The cause of death was damage to the aorta as well as massive damage to the spleen and liver.