One person was killed in a crash in Union County Thursday, the Highway Patrol said.

The crash happened around 12:45 p.m. at the intersection of N.C. 218 and N.C. 200, near Monroe.

Richard Simpson, whose family has owned Simpson's Egg Farm for the past 80 years, was killed in the crash. Troopers said Simpson had run the red light at the intersection and was not wearing his seat belt when he collided with another pickup.

John Benson, a friend of Simpson’s, is one of many people Eyewitness News spoke with who are still in shock.

At the plant that has been his family's business for years, employees said he was as much a friend as a boss, and his generosity reached far into a community where he was born and raised.

“You always got to wonder why that good of a person -- that nice of a person -- is gone,” Benson said.

The intersection has been the scene of other bad wrecks.

“We’ve had three serious accidents here in about three weeks,” said Union County resident Joel Baucom.

Baucom said the problem was worse before the Department of Transportation added the stoplight and turn lanes four years ago. But new development and the opening of Interstate 485 have added more traffic to the road.