Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A 60-year-old man driving a 2025 Mazda CX-30 crashed into stopped vehicles on Veterans Memorial Highway in Hauppauge on Tuesday evening, triggering a fiery chain-reaction collision that injured six people, including two seriously, according to Suffolk County police.
The crash occurred around 5:55 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of Veterans Memorial Highway, police said. Four vehicles were stopped in the left-turn lane waiting to turn onto Ledgewood Drive when the Mazda CX-30, traveling in the left eastbound lane, struck the back of the last vehicle in the turn lane — a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander driven by a 43-year-old woman. Her 9- and 12-year-old daughters were passengers in the back seat of the Mitsubishi.
The force of the initial impact caused the Mitsubishi to slam into the rear of a Tesla Model 3 driven by a 43-year-old woman, according to police. Her 8-year-old son was seated in the back of the Tesla. The collision pushed the Tesla forward into a 2020 Toyota Camry operated by a 31-year-old driver, which then struck the back of a 2023 Mazda CX-5 driven by a 39-year-old motorist, police said.
The violent chain-reaction crash caused the initial striking vehicle, the 2025 Mazda CX-30, to catch fire, Suffolk County police reported. The flames quickly spread to the Tesla Model 3, creating a dangerous scene that required immediate emergency response. Firefighters responded to the scene and successfully extinguished the fire before it could spread to additional vehicles or cause further damage to the roadway.
All six occupants involved in the multi-vehicle pileup were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of their injuries, police said. The 60-year-old driver of the Mazda CX-30 that initiated the crash was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening. The 43-year-old Tesla driver and her 8-year-old son, who was in the back seat, were also treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The most seriously injured victim was the 43-year-old woman driving the Mitsubishi Outlander, who sustained serious injuries that were not life-threatening, according to police. Her two young daughters, ages 9 and 12, who were passengers in the back seat of the Mitsubishi, were treated for injuries that were not life-threatening. The 31-year-old driver of the Toyota Camry and the 39-year-old driver of the Mazda CX-5 were not injured in the crash, police reported.
Following the investigation, all vehicles involved in the chain-reaction collision were impounded for mandatory safety checks, according to Suffolk County police. The impoundment procedure is standard protocol for multi-vehicle crashes involving serious injuries and vehicle fires to ensure mechanical factors did not contribute to the severity of the incident.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on Veterans Memorial Highway at the intersection with Ledgewood Drive in Hauppauge, a busy commercial corridor that serves as a major east-west artery through central Suffolk County. This stretch of Veterans Memorial Highway experiences heavy traffic volume during evening rush hours, particularly around 6 p.m. when commuters are traveling home from work and commercial areas.
The intersection with Ledgewood Drive is a common turning point for drivers accessing residential neighborhoods and business complexes in the area. The left-turn lane where the four vehicles were stopped waiting to turn is a frequent backup point during peak traffic hours, creating conditions where stopped or slow-moving traffic can be vulnerable to rear-end collisions from vehicles traveling at highway speeds in adjacent lanes.
Broader Impact
The vehicle fire that spread from the initial Mazda CX-30 to the Tesla highlights the particular challenges emergency responders face with electric vehicle fires, which can burn differently than traditional gasoline-powered cars and may require specialized firefighting techniques and extended cooling periods to prevent re-ignition. The successful extinguishment by firefighters prevented what could have been a much more extensive incident involving additional vehicles and potential road surface damage that would have required longer cleanup and road closure times.