On Tuesday, September 6, 1977 at 8:20 AM, on the way to a script reading at KTLA Studios (where
What's Happening!! (1976) was filmed, the script reading was for the episode
Trial and Error (1977)), Spencer and her stepfather
Tim Pelt were rear-ended on Pacific Coast Highway at Temescal Canyon road in Malibu, California. The impact pushed their AMC Hornet station wagon into the oncoming lanes of traffic, where they were hit head-on by another vehicle. The accident proved fatal to Pelt, while Spencer sustained numerous body and spinal injuries. She was in a coma for three weeks, and currently has no recollection of the accident itself.