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He was killed when a metal pipe smashed through the windshield of his black Volvo station wagon and struck him in the head. The seven-foot-long pipe was already in the roadway when another car gave it a glancing blow, sending it through Pakula's windshield. Then Pakula's car swerved across a service road and hit a fence. The accident happened about a quarter mile east of the Melville exit on the Long Island Expressway. He was taken to North Shore University Hospital at Plainview (Nassau County), where he was pronounced dead at 12:22 P.M.

His interest in psychology, particularly how men deal with their fears, has been reflected in many of his films.

In 1998, he was slowly in the works to direct a situation comedy he had written entitled "A Tale of Two Strippers"; which told the story of two male exotic dancers in Las Vegas who find themselves trying to evade a hit man after witnessing an arranged murder when they get an address mixed up and arrive to the wrong location to perform a private gig. He died in an automobile accident before anything could start so the project was immediately canceled. Had it gone through it would've marked the film debuts of actors Josh Duhamel and Ashton Kutcher whom he hired to star in the lead roles.

Always highly supportive of his cast, he had a reputation as an 'actor's director'.

Directed 8 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Jane Fonda, Liza Minnelli, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Richard Farnsworth, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen and Meryl Streep. Fonda, Robards and Streep won Oscars for their performances in one of Pakula's movies.