DIX HILLS, N.Y. (1010 WINS) – A tractor-trailer truck driver was arrested Monday night on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after he crashed onto a guardrail on the Long Island Expressway and sparked a fuel spill that required a hazmat response.
The 64-year-old driver was heading westbound on the LIE in Dix Hills shortly after 7:45 a.m. when his truck left the roadway and mounted a guardrail before coming to a stop east of the Exit 50 off ramp, police said.
"Several hundred feet" of guardrail and two streetlamps came down in the crash, according to police, who said a second driver struck debris in the roadway.
Two lanes of the westbound LIE were closed for more than six hours on Monday night to remove the disabled vehicles and clear the roadway, which was contaminated by motor oil and 50 gallons of diesel fuel, police said.
Hazmat spill responders from the state Department of Environmental Conservation assisted with the fuel cleanup.
The truck driver, Timothy Murray, was charged with DWI and was set to be arraigned Tuesday, police said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the trucker or the other driver suffered any significant injuries in the crash.