Yes it can. Thats why in dreams you always wake up before u hit the ground, never get hit by a car, always wake up when you're about to die. Dreams are fooling the mind, so if u die in a dream, the mind confuses it with real life and dies of shock. And u never drown in a dream becoz if the minds thinks the body is drowning, then it shuts down the lungs so you don't inhale water, thats why if you dream about going underwater, u always wake up coughing. You may dream that ur about to die, but u never actually do.