Cops probe two fatal crashes

Police are investigating what caused two traffic accidents, one in Long Beach and one in Woodbury, in which two elderly women were killed.

City of Long Beach police Wednesday identified the woman killed Tuesday in a crash on Lido Boulevard as Ethel Bernstein, 78, of Long Beach.

Her husband, Harry, 75, was at the wheel of his Honda when it veered into oncoming lanes and crashed head-on into a van about 4:20 p.m. The driver might have suffered a medical emergency, police said, but a department spokesman said that, "At this time it remains an unfortunate accident."

Separately, Nassau County police said they were looking into an accident on Jericho Turnpike in Woodbury about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Jane Martin, 82, of Huntington Station, was killed after the westbound 1983 Buick she was riding in collided with another westbound vehicle, crossed into the eastbound lane and collided with a third vehicle, police said.

There was no apparent criminality in the Woodbury crash, investigators said. Nassau police did not release the name or condition of the 82-year-old driver.

No charges have been filed in the Long Beach crash, police said. Long Beach City Manager Charles Theofan said investigators learned the Honda driven by Harry Bernstein had been spotted moving "very erratically" on the southbound Loop Parkway. He was in the intensive care unit of South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, hospital officials said, but his condition could not be determined.

The Honda traveled west on Lido Boulevard toward Long Beach. Somewhere near Maple Boulevard, police said the westbound vehicle swerved, struck a utility pole, then crossed into the eastbound lanes -- crashing head-on into a Ford van and striking two other vehicles.

Long Beach police said two people suffered nonlife-threatening injuries. They were identified by police as Emmet Ryan, 27, of Long Beach, and Howard Mascoe, 50, of Uniondale. Their conditions could not be determined Wednesday.