Brian O’Connor of Montauk, 58, was driving a Mickey’s Carting truck east through Water Mill last Thursday afternoon in stop-and-go traffic, when, he told police, he took his eyes off the road momentarily and rear-ended a plumbing van, driven by 19-year-old W.X. Barbecho-Munoz of Mastic.
The force of the crash pushed the van into the back of a trailer pulled by a 2020 Ford pickup driven by Leland Winslow, 67, of Amagansett. The van then rolled onto its side and into the westbound lane of travel, where it was hit by a 2018 GMC pickup truck driven by K.M. Mikolajczyk, 39, of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.
Both Mr. O’Connor and Mr. Barbecho-Munoz complained of pain but refused medical attention. Hammer Towing cleared the highway of the van and the truck.
Another three-way accident happened on the highway the next day near Handy Lane in Amagansett.
E.M. Vizhnaypuzhi of East Hampton, 36, was in a 2013 Toyota pickup headed east on Montauk Highway. She saw Elise Platt, 76, of New York, stopped in traffic, she told police, but was unable to stop in time before rear-ending Ms. Platt’s 2019 Acura S.U.V. The Acura was propelled into a third car, a 2021 Toyota S.U.V. driven by 34-year-old Omar Rojasartiles of Copiague.
Ms. Platt complained of shoulder pain but declined an ambulance trip to the hospital. Ms. Vizhnaypuzhi’s car was towed by Precision Automotive.