What Happened
New York State Police said troopers responded at about 1:04 p.m. on September 21, 2026, to a one-vehicle fatal crash in the toll booth area on the northern part of the Sunken Meadow State Parkway in the town of Smithtown. According to the preliminary investigation, a vehicle crashed into the toll booth area at the entrance to Sunken Meadow State Park and became engulfed in flames. One person was found dead inside the vehicle. In an October 13 update, State Police identified the driver as a 70-year-old Kings Park man and said the cause “remains ongoing at this time.”
Members of the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation responded to the scene. The New York State Park Police, Kings Park Fire Department and Suffolk County Police Department assisted, according to State Police.
Long Island Traffic’s incident registry holds two other fatal crash reports in Smithtown from the 30 days before this crash. That makes this at least the third such incident in the town in a month. The earlier reports are from September 14, 2026 and August 26, 2026.
Patch reported that the crash came exactly one week after another fatal crash in the same toll booth area. In that earlier crash, a vehicle also crashed and became engulfed in flames, and the Smithtown Fire Department responded. Daily Voice reported that both drivers were traveling northbound on the Sunken Meadow State Parkway before crashing into the left side of the toll booth, according to authorities. Greater Long Island reported that State Police have not said whether the two crashes are connected.
On This Corridor
Federal FARS fatal-crash records for 2010 through 2024 (2024 figures preliminary) list 9 fatal crashes in Smithtown on or at Sunken Meadow State Parkway, occurring in 2011, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022. These figures are counts placed by FARS’s recorded road and cross street. They are not a rate and say nothing about this crash’s cause.
Local Crash Record
The Town of Smithtown recorded 2,624 reported crashes in 2024, per New York State DMV crash data. Of its 9,958 reported crashes from 2021 through 2024, 2,440 involved an injury and 32 were fatal. These are crashes coded by reporting agencies to the town, offered as context only.
What we don’t know yet: police have not said what caused the September 21 crash or whether it is connected to the fatal toll booth crash one week earlier.
Sources
- New York State Police (official record)
- Patch
- Long Island Life & Politics
- Daily Voice
- Greater Long Island