Teen driver summoned after Dix Hills crash sends trucker to hospital

A morning crash at Express Drive North and Bagatelle Road in Dix Hills turned a routine commute into a helicopter medevac, leaving a Brentwood truck driver seriously injured and a 16-year-old Melville driver facing summonses.

Suffolk County police said Arturo Parada, 49, was driving a 2007 Kenworth tractor-trailer westbound on Express Drive North at about 7:15 a.m. on May 9 when a 2022 Jeep Wrangler traveling northbound on Bagatelle Road struck the truck. The impact caused the tractor-trailer to overturn, and the cab hit trees and a utility pole before coming to rest.

Parada was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries. The teenage Jeep driver was treated and released from Huntington Hospital. Police said she was issued summonses for driving out of class and failing to stop at a red light.

The crash underscored how fast a right-of-way violation can turn violent on western Suffolk roads, especially when a passenger vehicle collides with a heavy commercial truck. A side impact can be enough to tip a tractor-trailer, and once a rig rolls, the danger spreads beyond the two vehicles involved, with trees, poles and other fixed objects becoming part of the crash scene.

The case also highlights the stakes of teen driving enforcement in New York. State motor vehicle rules require drivers under 18 to move through the graduated license system, and the Department of Motor Vehicles says drivers ages 16 to 24 make up 12% of licensed drivers statewide but are involved in 20% of crashes. In Suffolk, traffic violations can follow drivers beyond the roadside, with the county’s Traffic and Parking Violations Agency handling moving violations, parking summonses and red-light camera citations in the five western towns.

Suffolk County police said crash reports are generally available online through BuyCrash.com about 7 to 10 business days after an incident. Detectives asked anyone with information about the Dix Hills collision to contact the Second Squad.