Service Road Flooded With Beer After Crash

Photo courtesy of the Melville Fire Department
Dozens of cases of Bud Light are spilled onto the Long Island Expressway South Service Road after a truck carrying the beer collided with a car just after midnight this morning.

By Andrew Wroblewski
awroblewski@longislandergroup.com

The Long Island Expressway South Service Road in Melville was flooded with blue boxes, broken bottles and lots of beer after a car and a truck collided just after midnight this morning, authorities said.

The Melville Fire Department responded to the crash on the South Service Road of the expressway near Walt Whitman Road at around 12:15 a.m., according to fire officials. The 18-wheel truck, which was carrying dozens of cases of Bud Light, flipped onto its side and slammed into a tree, spilling the beer across the road and sidewalk. The car overturned onto its roof.

Both drivers suffered minor injuries, according to Suffolk police.

Melville Assistant Fire Chief David Kaplan said the department has responded to similar incidents involving overturned trucks in the past, but to have “the entire load of a truck” spill out onto a road is “highly unusual.”

The collision is seen on the truck’s dash cam video, which was obtained and published online by News 12 Long Island. The truck, traveling eastbound on the South Service Road crosses under a green light at the intersection, but then collides with the car, which made a right turn onto the service road.

Both drivers were out of their vehicles when firefighters arrived, according to Kaplan. The driver of the truck suffered rib and shoulder injuries, and the driver of the car wasn’t complaining of any injuries, but did have trouble recalling the accident, Kaplan said. Both drivers were brought to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow by the Melville Rescue Squad.

Photo courtesy of the Melville Fire Department
The car involved in this morning’s crash flipped overturned onto its roof.

Suffolk police said the driver of the car was unlicensed and issued a ticket.

The South Service Road was closed for around 6 hours, reopening just after 6 a.m., according to Kaplan. He said the state Department of Transportation was called in to handle the cleanup.

Around 25 Melville firefighters and rescue personnel were dispatched with four ambulances, an engine, heavy rescue truck and paramedic unit under the direction of assistant chiefs Kaplan and Chris Nolan.