A nurse whose vehicle was struck by a Simi Valley Police Department patrol car on its way to a pursuit in April 1994 died last month after spending the past 12 years in a coma.

Margaret "Peggy" Sphar, who was 45 years old at the time of the accident, was pronounced dead on July 26 at the Elk Grove, Calif. care facility where she spent the last 11 years. Her death, according to her brother Ed Kemper, was the result of a respiratory infection and elicited strong emotions from her longsuffering family.

"It was the happiest day of my life in the last 12 years. I can't think of any bigger nightmare for a nurse to be in than the position my sister was in," said Kemper, who lives in Fair Oaks, which, like Elk Grove, is a suburb of Sacramento. "I'm glad she's finally free."

Sorrow over the circumstances surrounding her death was also expressed.

"Her dying is a good thing- the only bad part is that it brings up all these feelings and we have to deal with them all over again," Kemper said.

According to police reports, Sphar was thrown from her car and suffered traumatic head injuries after Simi Valley police officer Rick Rinehart T-boned Sphar's vehicle as she pulled out of the Metrolink station on Los Angeles Avenue. Sphar had just dropped off her son Daniel and his friends so they could catch a train to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia.

Rinehart, who survived the tragic accident unscathed, was on his way to jowas on his way to join in the pursuit of a suspect in east Simi Valley who had failed to pull over after being picked up for speeding. Though Rinehart was driving at speeds in excess of 67 mph down L.A. Avenue, his emergency rotating lights and sirens were not on at the time of the crash, said Simi police Lt. John McGinty, because he had not been cleared for what the police refer to as "Code 3" emergency driving.

"Emergency mode kicks in for a couple different reasons: if an officer is actually in pursuit or is responding to a life-threatening emergency, which he was not," McGinty said. "Had the siren and lights been on, he would have actually been (going against) policy."

Subsequent investigations of the accident by both the SVPD and the California Highway Patrol's Multi-Disciplinary Accident Investigation Team found Sphar to be at fault, McGinty said. "Those investigations found the primary collision factor in this accident to be Ms. Sphar pulling out in front of (the officer) without the right-of-way to do so," said McGinty. "At that time there was no light at that intersection, just a stop sign."

Kemper, 55, who like his sister is a graduate of Agoura High School, still feels that the officer was to blame.

"He's doing almost twice the speed limit and with no lights, no sirens on," Kemper said. "He had 500 feet from the time he saw my sister's car and he was unable to stop and plowed right into her."

According to McGinty, both investigations also determined that Rinehart was not authorized to be traveling at such a high rate of speed. The officer, who left the department after the incident, faced disciplinary action, but McGinty said he couldn't comment on the details.

Though no SVPD policies were changed because of the accident, McGinty said, the department did take the crash very seriously and tried to learn from the tragedy.

"Every time something like this happens, you take a look at your policies and consider if we could do something better to enhance the safety to the public," McGinty said.

Before her accident, Sphar, a mother of three-two boys and a girl-worked as a resident nurse at Simi Valley Hospital for more than 10 years and volunteered as a docent at Rocky Peak Park. His mother performed both jobs with a passion, Daniel said.

"She loved what she did, especially being a docent," said Daniel, 27, a student at Humboldt State University. "She tried to share that with us. She was always taking us out hiking and exposing us to the outdoors that were available to us in Southern California."

After she was transferred to Care Meridian in Elk Grove, Daniel said, he tried to visit his mother as often as possible, but the distance between them often limited his trips to major holidays. Unlike his older sister and younger brother, Daniel stayed in Simi Valley until 2000.

"I would go talk to her, tell her where I was in my life, tell her about school, tell her about the things I was achieving," he said. "I hope it was helpful to her. I hope it made her feel better to know where we were going in life and that we were all okay."

Sphar's parents, siblings and children, as well as many members of the care facility's staff, attended her funeral in Elk Grove. At the ceremony, hundreds of monarch butterflies were released into the air. "It fit her perfectly," Kemper said.

Daniel said he saw his mother's passing as a chance for her to go to a better place.

"I'm sad, but I'm happy she's peaceful now."

Next week: A follow-up story on Simi Valley Police Department pursuit procedures.