Seven Wrong-way Drivers in One Month

In the past month, seven drivers have been accused of not only driving the wrong way on Long Island, but doing so while intoxicated.

The latest incident involves a Miller Place man accused of being high while driving the wrong way on Route 25. He wasn’t high on alcohol, however: police claim the man was high on heroin when he drove his car over the double-yellow lines and slammed his vehicle head-on into a pick-up truck and SUV headed in the opposite direction.

The 26-year-old man and a driver of one of the vehicles he hit were both treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

Not everyone involved in the six previous wrong-way collisions was as fortunate.

A New City police officer was killed when an allegedly drunk driver drove his vehicle the wrong way on the Northern State Parkway, crashing head-on into the off-duty officer’s vehicle.

The 50-year-old Brooklyn suspect is currently being held in lieu of a $1 million bond.

On Nov. 16, the day after the officer’s death, a Westbury woman caused another head-on collision, this time on the Long Island Expressway. She, too, is accused of being drunk at the time of the crash.

The horrific hits just kept coming: on Dec. 3, a college official was nabbed for drunken driving after going in the wrong direction on Sunrise Highway. The misadventure included a police chase that was brought to a close when the man crashed his car.

A few days ago, two more alleged drunk drivers were arrested within a couple of hours of each other. The first was on the LIE in Yaphank, the second on the Shirley portion of Sunrise Highway.

A couple of days later, a 20-year-old woman found herself facing charges of driving her car westward on the eastbound side of Hempstead Turnpike.

Resource: Long Island Press: “Cops: Miller Place Man on Heroin 7th Wrong-way DWI in 1 Month”: December 15, 2010