A serious accident during the morning commute in East Hampton Village Monday resulted in Main Street being closed to traffic near Mill Road for several hours as investigators worked to determine exactly what happened.
Village Police Chief Jeff Erickson said East Hampton Town accident reconstructors were still on the scene at around 12:30 p.m. and that the New York State Motor Carrier Safety Unit was in route to the village.
While investigators are still piecing together what happened, Chief Erickson said an S.U.V. attempting to make a left onto Main Street from Mill Road, struck another S.U.V. that was also heading south and was pushed into the back of a box truck driving north.
"The impact was taken on the driver side" of the vehicle that had been turning onto Main Street, Chief Erickson said, "which created a severe entrapment. It took 40 minutes for the fire department to extricate the individual." The injured man was airlifted to Stonybrook University Hospital with a serious physical injury.
"The dashboard got crushed into his lower extremities," said the police chief. "His tibia, his fibula, his wrists."
The driver of the truck was taken to Stonybrook Southampton. The driver of the second S.U.V. was examined but refused medical treatment, according to the chief.
"Debris was everywhere," he said. "The road will be shut down for at least a couple more hours." Eastbound drivers are being rerouted at Woods Lane to James Lane. Those headed south on Main Street are being rerouted up Route 114.
By shortly after 1 p.m., the Main Street had been reopened to southbound traffic, and not long after it was open to traffic in both directions.
This was one of three motor vehicle accidents in East Hampton Village Monday morning. The chief said "rubbernecking" could be the cause of a minor fender-bender that occurred on Woods Lane after the accident. Another minor accident occurred at Route 27 and Cove Hollow Road.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
