VINP Superintendent Mark Hardgrove’s vehicle was badly damaged after he was struck head-on by a vehicle driving in the wrong lane.
Sometimes trouble heads right for someone.
V.I. National Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove learned that lesson the hard way last week when he was involved in a head-on collision on his way home.
Hardgrove had worked late and was driving home in uniform around 9 p.m. on Thursday night, January 5, when he saw headlights coming at him in the wrong lane near the Cruz Bay overlook on North Shore Road.
“I saw the lights and I didn’t think anything really because there is often traffic up near Asolare,” said the VINP Superintendent. “Then he just creamed me.”
The other driver, who owns a home on St. John and spends a few weeks each year on island, had just finished dinner at Asolare and was driving a local car down the hill, Hardgrove explained.
“I guess he stays here three weeks each year and wasn’t used to driving,” he said. “I slammed my brakes when I realized he was coming straight at me, but it was too late; he crashed right into me. Luckily the air bags did not deploy.”
VIPD officers were quick to respond, Hardgrove added.
By the looks of Hardgrove’s vehicle, which was parked in the VINP Maintenance Yard last week, the superintendent is lucky to have walked away from the accident.
“I’m a little older today than I was yesterday,” he said the day after the head-on collision.
While Hardgrove had set a goal of zero accidents in VINP for the year, sometimes there is nothing one can do, he explained.
“Accidents are not always avoidable,” said Hardgrove.
