Southeast Expressway Light Poles Inspected After One Crushes Car
DORCHESTER (CBS) – The state held emergency inspections on light poles along the Southeast Expressway overnight after one fell apart Thursday morning, crushing a car during rush hour.
Bill Sprague said he was driving to work on 93 north when shortly after 5 a.m. a bus in the opposite lane hit a light pole lying in the road, sending part of it flying in the air and straight at Sprague.
"It looked like a missile coming at me," he told WBZ-TV. "I hit the brake and it was just in time (there was) enough distance so that it hit the front end instead of me."
MassDOT crews spent the night inspecting light poles along I-93 to make sure another one doesn't end up on the highway.
Officials say a program to routinely inspect the poles started in 2013.
The plan was to inventory and inspect light poles, then check them again every three years.
"The pole involved in (Thursday's) incident had not yet been inspected under this contract as the inventory process continues," MassDOT said in a statement.
The agency said this particular pole is one of 120 that are reaching the end of their life span because age and weather can weaken the structures. A replacement project is already in the works.
The state is working to figure out what led to this pole falling in the road.
Sprague's car wasn't the only one involved in Thursday's incident. Four others were hit by flying debris when the bus hit the pole.
But Sprague's car was damaged the most.
"I'm just glad that he got home and somebody was watching over him this morning. Me and my 6 kids are very grateful," Sprague's wife Lynn told WBZ.