Four Injured in Three-Car Crash On 'Dangerous' Turnpike

The driver of a silver BMW ran a red light on Hempstead Turnpike Wednesday afternoon, causing a three-car collision that left four injured.

The accident occurred just before 4 p.m. at the intersection of Hempstead Turnpike and New York Avenue in West Hempstead.

The  Nassau County Police and the West Hempstead Fire Department responded to the scene. Fortunately, there were no car fires and but four were injured* and the vehicles sustained major damage.

A witness on the scene said the BMW was traveling west down Hempstead Turnpike at a high speed and slammed on the brakes when the traffic light turned red, but was unable to stop. He said the car skidded into the intersection, where it collided with a red sedan that was heading north on New York Avenue and a black Mercedes-Benz SUV approach from the south.

The driver of the red car was pinned for a short time and was taken away on a stretcher. An eyewitness said it appeared as if the man had taken the full force of the crash and the air bag.

The SUV was carrying a woman and child, who were both treated for minor injuries, as was the driver of the BMW, who later said he told police he had been traveling 50 mph. (A witness on the scene estimated him to be going faster.)

occurred on Hempstead Turnpike in West Hempstead earlier this month, when a driver lost control and slammed into a utility pole.

In February, a report by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a policy watchdog organization, named Hempstead Turnpike one of the region's most dangerous roads for the third year in a row for its relatively high rate of pedestrian fatalities. 

*An earlier version of this story indicated that there were no injuries. Patch has since learned of four.