Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A 19-year-old Hempstead woman died early Sunday morning after her vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree on the Southern State Parkway, according to New York State Police.
Mia-Renee S. Edwards was driving a 2002 gray Toyota Camry westbound on the Southern State Parkway when her vehicle veered from the travel lanes and left the roadway at approximately 5:30 a.m., State Police Trooper Brittany Burton said. The crash occurred near Exit 22N, which is the interchange with the Meadowbrook State Parkway in the Town of Hempstead.
Edwards’ Toyota struck a tree after leaving the roadway, Burton said. She was transported to Nassau University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
“It’s still under investigation,” Burton told Newsday. State police are asking anyone with information about the crash to call 631-756-3300. No additional details about the circumstances leading to the crash were immediately available.
Location & Road Context
The fatal crash occurred on one of Long Island’s most dangerous roadways. The Southern State Parkway has consistently recorded the highest number of crashes on any single road over the last decade, according to a recent Newsday analysis.
Between 2012 and the end of 2023, the winding 25½-mile parkway saw 137 fatalities and 846 serious injuries in traffic crashes. The crash site near Exit 22N sits at a major interchange connecting the Southern State to the Meadowbrook State Parkway, a heavily traveled junction in Nassau County.
Broader Impact
Sunday’s fatality adds to Long Island’s broader traffic safety crisis. A Newsday investigation found that traffic crashes killed more than 2,100 people between 2014 and 2023 and seriously injured more than 16,000 people across the region, with a crash causing death, injury or significant property damage occurring on average every seven minutes.