Two crashes, one week apart
New York State Police said that troopers from SP Brentwood responded at about 11:14 a.m. on September 14 to a one-vehicle fatal crash at the northern end of the Sunken Meadow State Parkway in the Town of Smithtown. According to State Police, 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. State Police said damage from the crash and fire left investigators unable at first to identify the occupant or the vehicle’s make and model.
The State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation responded to that crash, State Police said. The New York State Park Police, the Smithtown Fire Department and the Suffolk County Police Department assisted.
State Police said that troopers responded at about 1:04 p.m. on September 21 to a second one-vehicle fatal crash on the northern part of the parkway in the area of the toll booths. In that crash, a vehicle again struck the toll booth area at the park entrance and became engulfed in flames. One person was found dead inside. State Police said the Bureau of Criminal Investigation responded, with the State Park Police, the Kings Park Fire Department and Suffolk County Police assisting.
News 12 Long Island reported that the park was temporarily closed after the September 21 crash. Drivers were diverted off the parkway at Exit SM5W. Kings Park Fire Department Chief Mike Frail told News 12 that speed appears to have been a factor in that crash.
LIT’s report on each crash: September 14 and September 21.
What State Police and State Parks have said
TBR News Media reported that State Police updated their releases on the two crashes on October 13:
- September 14 crash: State Police said investigators determined the driver died by suicide, TBR News Media reported.
- September 21 crash: State Police identified the driver as a 70-year-old Kings Park man and said “the cause of this incident remains ongoing,” TBR News Media reported.
Greater Long Island reported the updates and also reported that State Police have not said whether the two crashes are connected. Its report notes that anyone in crisis can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day.
On September 23, News 12 reported that troopers said they would not speculate on the cause or circumstances of either crash or on whether the two are connected. Troopers said, “Those are all matters investigators are working to determine.”
New York State Parks officials said they will be analyzing mitigation measures to the toll plaza, News 12 reported on September 21. The State Parks Sunken Meadow page, as retrieved October 18, lists a vehicle fee for September 12 through November 8 of $8 per car, 8am to 4:00pm on weekends and holidays. Greater Long Island reported that both crashes happened on a Monday, September 14 and September 21.
The page posts no notice about the crashes or any toll plaza changes.
What LIT’s records show on this parkway
LIT’s FARS factbook counts each federal fatal-crash record by the road, cross street, community and coordinates the record lists. These are counts, not rates, and they say nothing about the cause of the September crashes.
NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System lists 9 fatal crashes, with 9 deaths, on the Sunken Meadow State Parkway from 2010 through 2024. The 2024 figures are preliminary. By year, the crashes were 1 in 2017, 2 in 2018, 2 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 1 in 2022 and 1 in 2023. None was recorded in 2024.
FARS places 7 of those crashes in the Commack census-designated place in Smithtown. The other 2, in 2017 and 2023, carry no recorded community or coordinates. According to FARS, 6 occurred in the dark and 2 involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher. One killed a pedestrian, and one killed a motorcyclist.
FARS also records 2 fatal crashes on Route 25A at its intersection with the parkway:
- One in Kings Park on October 28, 2011, that killed a pedestrian.
- One in Fort Salonga on September 12, 2022.
No FARS record from 2010 through 2024 lists the toll plaza or the park entrance as a crash location.
The New York State Police public incident log, as collected by LIT from March 19 through October 12, 2026, lists 30 crash entries on the parkway and its exit ramps: 23 property-damage, 5 personal-injury and 2 hit-and-run. The log locates entries only by road or ramp, so it cannot show which, if any, occurred at the toll plaza. Neither fatal crash appears in the log as a separate entry. Both are documented in State Police press releases.
LIT’s records of NYSDOT’s 511NY feed hold no crash record for the parkway on September 14 or September 21. 511NY did post an overhead sign repair between Exit SM5W and Exit SM5E on Friday, September 25, from 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM, with 1 right lane of 2 closed. More on the corridor is on LIT’s Sunken Meadow Parkway page.
What we don’t know yet:
- What caused the September 21 crash.
- What mitigation measures New York State Parks is analyzing for the toll plaza, and whether any have been adopted.
- Whether State Police consider the two crashes connected.