Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
All eastbound lanes of the Long Island Expressway were shut down after a crash late Sunday afternoon near Exit 41, creating an hours-long traffic nightmare for drivers, according to News 12 Long Island. The incident, which occurred on May 10, 2026, left motorists stranded in bumper-to-bumper traffic that stretched for miles as emergency crews worked to clear the scene.
Video footage sent to News 12 from drivers stuck on the expressway captured the extensive backup, showing cars at a complete standstill across multiple lanes. The same video revealed what appeared to be smoke rising from over a median barrier, along with images of what looked like a black vehicle positioned against that median. The crash happened late Sunday afternoon, though the exact time of the initial collision was not immediately disclosed by authorities as of Sunday night.
Multiple drivers contacted News 12 Long Island to report being trapped in the massive traffic jam, with some describing waits that lasted several hours as the backup stretched eastbound from the crash site. The complete closure of all eastbound lanes forced traffic to come to a virtual halt, creating a domino effect that impacted thousands of Sunday evening commuters and travelers.
News 12 staff reported on the developing situation at 10:42 PM on Sunday evening, indicating the traffic problems persisted well into the night. As of Sunday night, officials had not yet released specific details about what caused the crash or whether there were any injuries involved. The presence of smoke visible in driver-submitted video suggested the incident may have involved vehicle damage significant enough to warrant the complete shutdown of the eastbound side of one of Long Island’s busiest highways.
The timing of the crash, occurring on a Sunday evening, compounded the traffic impact as weekend travelers attempted to return home. The location near Exit 41 placed the incident in a particularly busy stretch of the LIE, where even minor disruptions can create extensive backups during peak travel times.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on the Long Island Expressway near Exit 41, which serves the Plainview and Bethpage areas in Nassau County. This section of the LIE represents one of the most heavily traveled corridors on Long Island, carrying thousands of vehicles daily between Manhattan and eastern Long Island communities. The expressway has experienced 697 recorded incidents in our database, making it one of the most accident-prone stretches of highway in the region.
Recent weeks have seen multiple significant disruptions along the LIE, including a massive sinkhole that nearly swallowed a car and several construction-related closures that have tested drivers’ patience. The area around Exit 41 sits at a critical juncture where suburban traffic merges with commuter flows, making any lane closures particularly disruptive to regional traffic patterns.