Police said witnesses reported a Hyundai speeding and using the grassy median before a collision that killed two Massachusetts drivers.
CUMBERLAND, R.I. — Rhode Island State Police are investigating witness reports that a Hyundai was speeding and passing vehicles through a grassy median shortly before a head-on Interstate 295 crash that killed two Massachusetts men Thursday.
The accounts are central to the preliminary reconstruction of a crash that killed Joel Costa, 29, of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, and Jonathan Welch, 44, of Norton, Massachusetts. Police said Costa was driving the Hyundai Ioniq and Welch was driving a Dodge Ram 1500 when the vehicles collided in the northbound lanes near the Mendon Road overpass.
Troopers were called to the area at approximately 3:31 p.m. for a crash involving multiple vehicles. State police said several witnesses reported seeing the Hyundai traveling recklessly on I-295 South, including speeding and passing other vehicles by using the grassy median.
Investigators said the Hyundai appeared to veer left from the southbound roadway, enter the median and hit the center guardrail. It then crossed into the northbound lanes, where it struck Welch’s Dodge head-on, according to the preliminary police account.
The force of the collision caused the Dodge to roll onto its passenger side. Police said it then sideswiped an Acura ADX, which sustained minor damage and came to rest in the right breakdown lane. The Dodge and Hyundai stopped in the left lane.
The crash quickly became a rescue and fire response. Both Costa and Welch were trapped in their vehicles, and the Hyundai began to smolder. Fire and rescue crews removed the two drivers before the electric vehicle became fully engulfed in flames, state police said.
Costa was pronounced dead at the crash scene. Welch was transported to Rhode Island Hospital and later died. State police also said investigators determined that neither driver was wearing a seat belt.
The witness statements describe what motorists reported observing before the collision, but the investigation remains open. Police have not announced a final reconstruction of the crash or released additional findings explaining why the Hyundai entered the median before crossing the center barrier.
State police continue to investigate the circumstances leading to the collision. No additional conclusions about the cause had been announced as of Saturday.
Author note: Last updated Aug. 22, 2026.