Texting blamed in head-on crash

Two men are in hospital after a head-on crash between a car and truck in Winnipeg's Transcona neighbourhood.

Distracted driving due to texting on a cell phone has been cited by police as one of the factors in the crash, which happened on Dugald Road near Goodyear Avenue at about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

A 19-year-old man was driving an eastbound Toyota pickup truck when he came upon traffic that was stopped due to construction in the area.

In order to avoid rear-ending the stopped traffic, the 19-year-old veered into the westbound lanes and slammed into a Dodge Neon, police said.

Emergency crews had to cut the roof off the Neon to reach the 53-year-old man who was driving it. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition where he remains at this time.

The 19-year-old driver of the truck was sent to hospital in stable condition. After being released from hospital, he was arrested and charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm as well as possession of a prohibited weapon.

The 19-year-old man has been released from police custody on a promise to appear in court. 

Mike Poirier, who lives nearby, rushed out to help the injured people. He said the man in the car was pinned and in rough shape.

"I don't know what happened with the driver, if he'll be all right or what, but yeah, it's horrible," he said.

Dugald Road was closed for several hours as police investigated.

Police didn't clear the scene until about 4 a.m. Wednesday.