Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A man was killed early Friday morning after being struck by a car near the Sunrise Highway service road in Bay Shore, according to police. The fatal crash was reported at approximately 5:18 a.m. on February 13, 2026, making it one of the more jarring pre-dawn tragedies to strike the South Shore corridor in recent memory. News 12 Long Island first reported the incident, attributing the details to local law enforcement.
According to News 12 Long Island, police confirmed the collision took place in the area of the Sunrise Highway service road — the frontage road that runs parallel to NY Route 27 through Bay Shore. The service road is a heavily trafficked local artery, used daily by commuters, pedestrians, and commercial drivers accessing businesses, bus stops, and residential areas adjacent to the main highway. At 5:18 a.m. on a February morning, visibility would have been limited, with sunrise still well over an hour away for that time of year.
As News 12 Long Island reported, police have not released the victim’s name, age, or hometown. No information about the driver of the vehicle has been made public, and the circumstances leading up to the collision — including speed, direction of travel, and whether the pedestrian was in a marked crosswalk — have not been disclosed by authorities. No charges or arrests had been announced as of the time of the initial report.
The details available at this stage are limited to what police confirmed: a man is dead, the location is the Sunrise Highway service road in Bay Shore, and the time of the fatal impact was approximately 5:18 a.m. Investigators have not said whether the driver remained at the scene, whether impairment is suspected, or which responding agencies are leading the inquiry. Authorities indicated that no further information would be released at the time of the initial report, suggesting the investigation was still in its earliest stages.
The pre-dawn timing of this crash is a significant contextual factor. Fatal pedestrian collisions in New York State disproportionately occur during low-light or no-light conditions. A 5:18 a.m. impact in mid-February falls squarely in the darkest hours of the morning, when pedestrian visibility is at its lowest and when drivers may be less alert than during daytime hours. Whether lighting conditions, driver behavior, or pedestrian positioning played a role in this particular crash remains unknown pending further investigation.
Location & Road Context
The Sunrise Highway service road in Bay Shore is a segment of one of Long Island’s most heavily used surface roadways. NY Route 27 — Sunrise Highway — stretches across Suffolk and Nassau counties, serving as a primary east-west corridor for South Shore commuters and commercial traffic. The service road adjacent to Sunrise Highway in Bay Shore provides local access to businesses, transit connections, and residential neighborhoods that front the main highway, and it sees consistent foot traffic from commuters using nearby bus stops and the Bay Shore Long Island Rail Road station.
Long Island Traffic’s database records 421 incidents on this road, underscoring the corridor’s long and troubled safety record. Recent incidents along NY 27 include a disabled bus on May 18, 2026, a crash on NY 27 the same day, and ongoing maintenance activity including bridge rehabilitation and barrier repairs as recently as May 23, 2026. Pedestrian and vulnerable road-user incidents are not new to this stretch — a jogger was left seriously injured after an SUV fled a crash scene in Suffolk County in May 2026, and a Bay Shore motorcyclist was seriously hurt in a late-night crash in Patchogue just days before that.
Broader Impact
Pedestrian fatalities on service roads adjacent to high-speed arterials like Sunrise Highway highlight a persistent design tension on Long Island’s roadway network: service roads were built to slow and distribute traffic from the main highway, but they often lack the pedestrian infrastructure — lighting, marked crosswalks, refuge islands — that vulnerable road users need, particularly in darkness. At 5:18 a.m. in February, anyone on foot along the Sunrise Highway service road in Bay Shore would have been navigating a stretch of road that was built primarily around vehicle access. Suffolk County and state transportation authorities have faced ongoing pressure to address pedestrian safety conditions along the NY 27 corridor, and this fatality adds renewed urgency to those conversations. Residents and community advocates seeking information on pedestrian safety rights following incidents like this can review resources at Long Island Traffic’s Know Your Rights section.