'Jaws of Life' Used After Ferrari, Truck Collide in Hampton Bays

Hampton Bays firefighters used the Jaws of Life to extricate a passenger from a Ferrari after the sports car collided with a pick-up truck Sunday afternoon.

The red 1995 Ferrari was headed east on Montauk Highway when it attempted to make a left turn across two lanes of westbound traffic into the Hampton Atrium parking lot, according to Southampton Town police. Sergeant Michael Joyce said that one driver stopped to let the Ferrari turn, but the Ferrari driver did not realize there was a second lane of westbound traffic. The Ferrari collided with a black 2007 Chevrolet Silverado that was headed west in a right-turn-only lane.

The accident was reported at 12:17 p.m. and Hampton Bays Fire Department, Hampton Bays Volunteer Ambulance, and town and state police responded.

Neither driver — a 59-year-old Southampton man in the truck and a 67-year-old Westhampton man in the Ferrari — sought medical attention, according to police, but a passenger from each vehicle was hospitalized.

A 58-year-old woman in the pick-up, who was the wife of the driver, was taken to Southampton Hospital, Joyce said. A 56-year-old woman in the Ferrari was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, after firefighters cut off the top of the Ferrari with the Jaws of Life to get her out and put her on a stretcher.

Joyce said there were no critical injuries.

The accident scene was cleared after two hours. Though the crashed vehicles were off the roadway, traffic backed up due to rubber necking and as emergency vehicles responded.

September 15 accident in Hampton Bays between a Ferrari and Chevrolet truck. Photo credit: Brendan J. O’Reilly