Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412070155
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Short
Dorothy Clark Simpson, 60, was killed when she was thrown through the windshield of a four-wheel-drive vehicle that her daughter was driving on Peppers Ferry Road just west of Christiansburg.
After an investigation, state police Monday charged Jennifer Ann McDonald, 20, with reckless driving.
State police initially had said, based on information given by a witness, that the sport/utility vehicle driven by Simpson's daughter, Donna Simpson Thomas, had swerved into the path of McDonald's car.
But Trooper Eddie Bowen said that after finally talking Sunday with the drivers, both of whom were seriously injured, he has changed his report and believes McDonald was to blame for the collision.
Bowen said Thomas was driving west on Peppers Ferry Road toward Radford when McDonald's vehicle suddenly crossed the double yellow line completely into the other lane and struck Thomas' vehicle head-on.
Thomas' vehicle flipped on its top. Simpson was thrown from the vehicle and killed.
Bowen said the witness who provided the initial information about how the wreck occurred was not involved in the collision.
Thomas has been released from Montgomery Regional Hospital, but McDonald remains hospitalized in stable condition, according to MRH spokesmen. Thomas' 6-year-old son, Joshua, who was flown to Roanoke Memorial Hospital after the wreck, has been released, Bowen said.
by CNB