Driver injured in E.P. truck crash

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- A family escaped injury after a crash brought down a live power line on top of their car Sunday morning.

The crash happened around 9 a. m. on Massasoit Avenue in East Providence.  Police say the driver of a dump truck was speeding when his truck crashed into a utility pole on the side of the road.  The force of the impact snapped the pole in half and caused power lines to fall into the road.

Those lines landed on top of another car that managed to stop just short of the crash.  The three people inside, including a young child, were able to escape unharmed.

The driver of the truck, identified only as a 44 year-old East Providence man, suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries, including a broken leg and severe lacerations, after being pinned in the cab.  He was extracted by members of the East Providence Fire Department and taken to Rhode Island Hospital.

Electricity in the area was disrupted and National Grid crews are working to repair the pole and restore power.

Neighbors and witnesses tell Eyewitness News that drivers routinely speed along the stretch of road, and that same pole had been replaced just two weeks.