UPDATE: URI Professor Killed In Usquepaugh Road Crash

An assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island died on Monday morning after his Nissan Altima veered across the center yellow lines and crashed into a cement truck on Usquepaugh Road.

Peng Wang, 36, of 21 Temple St., Hartford, CT, collided with the Heritage Concrete Corp. cement mixer truck at 10:20 a.m. and was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical responders, according to Rhode Island State Police records.

The other driver, Jeffrey Steele, 41, of Ashaway, suffered only minor injuries in the crash. He was transported to South County Hospital, but his injuries were not life threatening, according to Capt. Frank Castellone of the State Police.

"There were no independent witnesses, but it appears Wang drifted into oncoming traffic and struck the cement mixer," said Castellone. "There was nothing that Steele could have done."

Drugs or alcohol do not appear to have played a role in the accident, said Castellone, but the Commercial Enforcement Division of the Rhode Island State Police is inspecting the cement mixer to ensure it was working properly. He said initial inspections were that the truck was in good working order.

Route 138 was shut down to traffic for several hours on Monday between Route 2 in South Kingstown and Old Usquepaugh Road in Richmond near Peter Pots Pottery on Glen Rock Road until the accident could be cleared.