Motorcyclist Seriously Injured In Manorville Crash: Police

Motorcyclist Seriously Injured In Manorville Crash: Police. Long Island, NY

Updated Apr 12, 2026
MAJOR INCIDENT
Town
Manorville
County
suffolk County
Reported
Source
News Sources
📌Approximate area — Manorville centroid Open in Google Maps →

Map showing incident location at 40.7800, -73.3000 Incident location, Long Island

What Happened

James Lapham, 29, was seriously injured Friday afternoon when his KTM motorcycle collided with a Tesla making a left turn in Manorville, according to Suffolk County police. The crash occurred at 4:31 p.m. as Lapham was driving northbound on Weeks Avenue when his motorcycle struck a 2020 Tesla that was turning left onto Weeks Avenue from Calendar Road.

Lapham sustained serious injuries in the impact and was transported to NYU Langone Hospital – Suffolk in Patchogue for treatment, police said. The severity of his specific injuries was not immediately disclosed by authorities, though police classified them as serious rather than life-threatening.

The Tesla driver, identified as a 42-year-old woman from Manorville whose name was not released, also required medical attention following the collision. She was transported to a local hospital with what police described as minor injuries, suggesting she was conscious and alert at the scene.

Both vehicles involved in the crash were impounded by police for mandatory safety inspections, which is standard procedure in serious motor vehicle accidents. The impoundment will allow investigators to examine both the motorcycle and Tesla for any mechanical issues that may have contributed to the collision.

The intersection of Weeks Avenue and Calendar Road became the focus of the investigation as detectives worked to determine the exact sequence of events that led to the crash. The collision occurred during daylight hours on a Friday afternoon, a time when traffic volume is typically moderate in the Manorville area.

Suffolk County Police Seventh Squad detectives have taken over the investigation and are actively seeking additional information about the crash. Anyone who witnessed the collision or has relevant information is being asked to contact the Seventh Squad at 631-852-8752.

Location & Road Context

The crash took place at the intersection of Weeks Avenue and Calendar Road in Manorville, a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven in central Suffolk County. Weeks Avenue serves as a north-south thoroughfare in the area, connecting residential neighborhoods with local businesses and providing access to major east-west routes.

This intersection sits in a mixed-use area of Manorville that combines residential developments with commercial properties. The area experiences steady local traffic throughout the day, particularly during morning and evening commute hours when residents travel to and from work. Left turns from Calendar Road onto Weeks Avenue require drivers to yield to oncoming northbound traffic, which can create challenging visibility conditions depending on the time of day and surrounding vegetation or structures.

The Suffolk County Police Seventh Squad is conducting a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision. Detectives are examining factors including vehicle speeds, road conditions at the time of the crash, visibility issues, and whether any traffic violations occurred.

As part of the standard investigative process, both vehicles have been impounded for detailed safety inspections. These examinations will determine if mechanical failures, brake issues, or other vehicle-related problems played any role in the crash. The investigation remains active, and no charges have been announced at this time pending the completion of the detective work and analysis of all evidence collected from the scene.

Broader Impact

This collision marks the second serious motorcycle crash in Manorville within recent weeks, following a fatal motorcycle accident that occurred on April 4th involving a 21-year-old rider. The frequency of motorcycle accidents in the area during the early spring period reflects the seasonal increase in motorcycle activity as weather conditions improve and more riders return to the roads after winter months.

Topics

ManorvilleSuffolk CountySuffolk County accidentManorville trafficManorville accidentmotorcycle accidentLong Island accident todayLong Island traffic todayLong IslandNY

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if I'm in a car accident in Manorville?

Call 911 immediately if anyone is injured or if the vehicles can't be moved safely off the roadway. Stay at the scene — leaving the scene of an accident with injuries is a crime under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §600. Exchange license, registration, and insurance information with every other driver involved. Take photographs of every vehicle, the position of the vehicles before they're moved, all license plates, the road surface, traffic signs, and any visible injuries. Get the names and phone numbers of every witness — police often won't capture bystander witnesses on their own. Seek medical attention within 24 hours even if you feel fine; soft-tissue injuries and concussions can take a day or two to present, and a delayed medical visit weakens an injury claim. SCPD covers the five western towns of Suffolk County. The five East End towns (Southampton, East Hampton, Riverhead, Southold, Shelter Island) have their own town/village police forces. New York State Police Troop L responds to accidents on state highways including I-495 (LIE), Sunrise Highway (NY-27), Sagtikos Parkway, and Heckscher State Parkway.

How long do I have to file a no-fault claim in New York?

Thirty days. New York Insurance Law §5102 requires you to file a Personal Injury Protection (PIP/no-fault) application with the insurer of the vehicle you were in (or, if you were a pedestrian or cyclist, with the insurer of the striking vehicle) within 30 days of the accident. Missing the 30-day deadline can void your no-fault benefits — that's up to $50,000 in medical bills and 80% of lost wages (capped at $2,000/month) per injured person. The form is the NF-2 application; your insurance carrier provides it on request. New York no-fault is a true PIP system: it pays regardless of who caused the crash.

What counts as a "serious injury" under New York law?

Under Insurance Law §5102(d), a "serious injury" is one that meets at least one of these categories: (1) death; (2) dismemberment; (3) significant disfigurement; (4) a fracture; (5) loss of a fetus; (6) permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system; (7) permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member; (8) significant limitation of use of a body function or system; or (9) a medically determined injury that prevents the injured person from performing substantially all daily activities for at least 90 of the first 180 days following the accident. Only injuries that meet one of these nine categories create the right to sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering damages — short of that threshold, recovery is limited to no-fault PIP benefits. Disputes over whether an injury meets the threshold are the single most-litigated issue in NY motor-vehicle cases.

How long do I have to sue after a Long Island car accident?

Three years from the date of the accident for personal injury claims under CPLR §214(5). Wrongful death claims have a two-year deadline under EPTL §5-4.1. If a government entity is involved (a county vehicle, a road defect on a state highway, a defective traffic signal, a county bus), you must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e — that's a non-negotiable jurisdictional deadline, and missing it usually bars the claim entirely. Property-damage-only claims have the same three-year clock. The clock starts on the day of the accident, not the day you discover the full extent of an injury.

Can I still recover compensation if I was partly at fault?

Yes. New York is a pure comparative negligence state under CPLR §1411. Even if you were 90% at fault, you can still recover 10% of your damages. (A pending 2026 budget proposal would change this to a 51% bar — meaning a plaintiff who is more than 50% at fault would recover nothing — but that hasn't passed.) Insurance carriers routinely try to inflate the injured driver's percentage of fault to reduce payouts. The percentage assignment is decided by the jury at trial (or negotiated during settlement); it isn't fixed by the police accident report and isn't binding even when the report assigns fault. Reporting practice and the actual legal apportionment are separate questions.

How do I get a copy of the police accident report?

If Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) responded to the scene, the report is filed under an MV-104A form. In New York State, you can request a copy through the DMV at https://dmv.ny.gov/vehicle-safety/get-copy-accident-report (roughly $7 online, $10 by mail) once the responding agency has uploaded it to the state system, which usually takes 5-10 business days. NCPD and SCPD also have their own direct-request processes through the precinct that responded. If you weren't injured but the property damage exceeded $1,000, New York VTL §605 requires you (the driver) to file your own MV-104 report with the DMV within 10 days regardless of whether police responded.

How dangerous is This Road near Manorville?

Long Island Traffic tracks every reported incident on this road across both counties — see the road profile page for the multi-year accident count, severity distribution, and the specific intersections that show repeated incident clusters. Suffolk and Nassau county roads with chronic problems are reviewed by their respective DOTs on a multi-year cadence; persistent issues are sometimes addressed with new signal phasing, lane-narrowing treatments, or — in extreme cases — a Vision Zero engineering response. Daily incident updates flow into our live-events feed every fifteen minutes.

Disclaimer: Incident information on this page is compiled from public sources including police reports, traffic agencies, and news outlets. It is provided for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current status of this incident. Do not rely on this information for legal, insurance, or emergency decisions. For emergencies, call 911.