Local accidents shake up students, kill RF woman
September 28, 2006
Two UW-River Falls students were transported by ambulance following a two-vehicle accident shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Traffic on Cascade Avenue was stalled after a Pontiac Bonneville rear-ended a Ford Contour between the intersections of Third and Fourth Streets.
According to student Greg Lund, a witness to the accident, the driver of the Contour, 20-year-old student Laura Mallet, stopped behind a line of vehicles as pedestrians moved through the crosswalk. Lund said the Bonneville didn’t appear to slow down before hitting the vehicle.
Derek Dock, the 20-year-old driver of the Bonneville, said he was trying to put his wallet in his pocket when he realized the car in front of him had come to a halt. He said bad tires played a role in making him unable to stop quickly enough to avoid the accident.
Mallet exited her vehicle on her own immediately after impact, Lund said. She was later placed on a stretcher and into an ambulance, followed by her passenger, student Tara Mulliner, who was removed from the car and onto a stretcher by medical staff. The two women were taken to the hospital for examination and released later Wednesday.
Dock required no medical attention and was cited for inattentive driving and operating with a suspended license.
Traffic was held up as city crews cleared the scene of wreckage, with Public Safety waving cars safely past the scene.
River Falls Police, Public Safety and River Falls Area Ambulance Service were at the site for medical care and clean up of the area, though RFPD officers were called to a fatal accident on the north end of town just after 2 p.m.
Ann E. Spivey, 44, 1234 W. Maple St., was killed on the North Main Street overpass at Hwy. 35, near ShopKo. Her car was traveling northbound when it struck a dump truck headed southbound.
Spivey, a mother of two, was pronounced dead after emergency responders pulled her from the vehicle. The truck driver had no reported injuries.
(Editor’s note: Keighla Schmidt contributed reporting for this story.)