What Happened
Six people were rushed to a hospital after a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Union Boulevard and Islip Avenue in Islip late Thursday night, according to News 12 Long Island. The crash was reported around 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, 2026, and triggered a response for possible heavy rescue — a designation that proved warranted when crews arrived to find a driver pinned inside one of the vehicles.
Suffolk County Police told News 12 Long Island that a 2004 Buick sedan and a 2023 Honda sedan collided at the intersection. The two drivers were identified by age and hometown: a 57-year-old man from Commack and a 74-year-old man from Islip. Each vehicle carried passengers, bringing the total number of people involved to six — two drivers and four adult passengers.
Upon arrival, rescuers encountered multiple injured patients and discovered that one of the drivers was trapped inside their vehicle. Islip Fire Department crews deployed a Hurst tool — the hydraulic spreading-and-cutting device commonly known as the “jaws of life” — to cut the trapped victim free from the wreckage. Once extricated, EMS personnel transported the driver to receive hospital treatment.
All six individuals — both drivers and all four adult passengers — were transported to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore. News 12 Long Island reports that Suffolk police described every injury as non-life-threatening. No fatalities were reported as a result of the collision.
The call that brought emergency units to the scene was dispatched to the Islip Fire Department and Exchange Ambulance of the Islips as a motor vehicle crash with possible heavy rescue — standard protocol when initial reports suggest entrapment may be involved. The heavy-rescue designation allowed crews to stage the appropriate extrication equipment before arriving on scene, enabling a faster response once the trapped driver was confirmed.
Location & Road Context
The crash took place at the intersection of Union Boulevard and Islip Avenue in the hamlet of Islip, a densely populated community in the Town of Islip in southern Suffolk County. Union Boulevard is a major north-south arterial road in the area, and its intersection with Islip Avenue — a key east-west connector — sees significant local traffic volume, particularly during evening hours. The intersection sits within a mixed residential and commercial corridor, making multi-vehicle crashes at that crossing a notable concern for the surrounding neighborhood.
Islip has seen a cluster of roadway incidents in the surrounding area in recent weeks, including an overnight closure on Veterans Memorial Highway on July 21 and a moderate-severity crash on I-495 the same day.
Broader Impact
The need for Hurst tool extrication at this crash underscores the physical violence that intersection collisions can impose on vehicle occupants, even in crashes where no fatalities result. The age gap between the two drivers — 57 and 74 — is also relevant context: older drivers involved in high-impact collisions are statistically more susceptible to serious internal injuries even when outward signs appear moderate, which may explain why all six occupants were transported to South Shore University Hospital rather than evaluated and released on scene.