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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesDUMP TRUCK COLLIDES WITH CAR, MAN KILLED

DUMP TRUCK COLLIDES WITH CAR, MAN KILLED

A 69-year-old St. Croix man was killed Thursday morning when his compact car was struck by a dump truck near the St. Croix Container Port.
James Henry of Sion Farm was killed at approximately 6:45 a.m. when a truck collided with his Chevrolet Sprint after he made a right turn out of Gate 2 at the HOVENSA refinery, said St. Croix Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis.
Francis said the truck dragged the Sprint 250 feet into a lightpole. Henry was ejected from the vehicle and died on the spot. The driver of the truck was uninjured.
Francis said the speed limit on the Container Port Road is 25 miles per hour.
"The matter is under investigation," Francis said. "But by the kind of damage sustained by the car, it was quite evident that the truck driver was driving over that speed."
The fact that Henry was thrown from his vehicle in the crash underscores the importance of seatbelts, Francis said, which are required by law. Compliance with the law on island is down from 90 percent to about 75 percent, he said.
"We definitely would like to get that back up to 90 percent," he said. "The basics are that seatbelts save lives. There is no telling, but it’s quite possible he (Henry) could be alive if he'd had his seatbelt on."

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