Two women were killed and several other people injured Sunday, in a three-car accident on M-57 in Oakfield Township.
According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, Corine Dines, 52, of Nelson Township, was traveling east on M-57 (14 Mile) near Wabasis about 11:48 a.m. in a 1998 Pontiac Bonneville, when she attempted to pass another eastbound vehicle, a 1997 Buick LeSabre, driven by Belinda Shockley, 58, of Courtland Township. While attempting to pass, she entered the westbound lane and struck a 2005 GMC Sierra, driven by Judson Bancroft, 31, of Greenville. Dines reportedly drove onto the shoulder to avoid the truck, and the truck tried to go between the two cars, but couldn’t make it. Dines hit the passenger side of the truck and Shockley’s car hit the driver side. A fourth car, also traveling westbound, struck some debris from the crash, but no one in the vehicle was injured.
Dines died at the scene, and Shockley died enroute to the hospital via Aeromed. Bancroft sustained a sprained hand, and lacerations to his face and head. He was transported to Butterworth Hospital.
Four passengers in Shockley’s vehicle were also transported to Butterworth, including her two and three-year-old grandchildren, both of Greenville. Shockley’s boyfriend, Robert Beardsley, 56, of Courtland Township suffered a neck injury and her son, Bill Shockley, 37, of Courtland Township, suffered a broken leg.
The Oakfield Township Fire Department, Spencer Township Fire Department, Rockford Ambulance and Aeromed all assisted at the scene.
Dines’ husband, Rodney, stopped into The Post Monday, and said he couldn’t believe what had happened. He said that Corine had spent the night babysitting her grandchildren in Sparta, and that he was on his way home from church when he got the news. “We’ve been married 35 years,” he said. “I’m really going to miss her.”
This was the second serious accident at the intersection in less than a week. On Thursday, November 12, a 16-year-old Cedar Springs High School student traveling south on Wabasis pulled in front of a Ford Explorer traveling east on M-57. The SUV hit the teen’s car on the passenger’s side, causing both to roll. The driver of the SUV was airlifted to Butterworth Hospital.
