LIE reopens after crashes around exit 62, police say

The Long Island Expressway westbound has reopened, after police responded to two motor vehicle crashes in less than an hour Wednesday morning in the area around Exit 62 in Holtsville, Suffolk police said.

In the first incident, two westbound vehicles were involved in a crash just west of the exit at about 8:41 a.m. No one was hurt, police said.

Both cars pulled onto the right shoulder. About 20 minutes later, while an officer was investigating, a pickup truck in the left lane rear-ended a sedan, police said.

The sedan then hit a van in the middle lane, while the truck crossed the highway and wound up in the woods off the right shoulder, police said.

The pickup truck driver, who was not identified, was issued summonses for speeding and following too closely, police said.

The driver, a man, and his female passenger were taken to a local hospital for evaluation. The sedan driver, a woman, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. And the van driver, a man, was not hurt, police said.

All westbound lanes of the highway had been briefly closed west of Exit 62 while police investigated.