A woman killed in a major vehicle accident that brought the city of Jackson to a grinding halt yesterday afternoon has been identified as 56-year-old Wanda Jones of Glencoe.

Having spent the morning working on a follow-up investigation into the collision, which transpired in front of dozens of witnesses, including a number of junior high students, Jackson Police Chief Scott Morrison now believes Jones's death was avoidable.

The chaos unfolded just after 3:15 p.m. on Monday, when a couple in a Ford Crown Victoria pulled out of the parking lot of True Value Hardware onto Highway 88/49. Driving was 61-year-old Daniel Robert Jones of Glencoe. According to the police investigation, Jones made a hard left and accelerated. This brought him and passenger Wanda Jones directly into the path of Linda Knight of Pine Grove, who was behind the wheel of a gray Buick traveling westbound on the highway.

"It was just the right set of circumstances for a tragedy," Morrison observed. "Mr. Jones's speed, and the angle of his abrupt turn, put him in just the right position for this type of broadside. In addition to that, when Miss Knight was forced to apply her brakes, it caused the front of her Buick to dip low as she collided into the side of the Crown Vic. It was a combination of all those things that caused it to roll the way it did."

During the first roll, Wanda Jones was thrown out of the passenger window down onto the pavement. She had not been wearing her seat belt. The car's second roll came down on her with considerable force before it rested on its side.

After firefighters pulled Daniel Jones from the twisted wreckage, he was rushed to Sutter Amador Hospital with cuts to his head. Knight did not sustain serious injuries in the crash.

Morrison said his department's investigation indicates that Knight is not the responsible party for causing the death of Wanda Jones. "As far as Miss Knight goes, the accident was unavoidable on her end," the chief explained. "The witnesses interviewed collaborate the evidence on the roadway in saying that this was a right-of-way violation on the part of Mr. Jones."